\7- 


Tr^WT^J 


X 


Library  of 
The  University  of  North  Carolina 


COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


...  •»  * 


ENDOWED  BY 

JOHN  SPRUNT  HILL 

of  the  Class  of  1889 


(D(i^<^\\o^<^ 


This  book  must  not 
be  token  from  the 
Library  building. 


THIS  TITLE  hAS  BEEN  MICROH 


iUvlEi 


Form  No.  471 


_- 


PC 


Edited  by  ANDREW  LANG 


B  A  L  E  I  Gl  H 


BY 


EDMUND    GOSSE,  M.A. 

CLARK  LECTURER  IN  ENGLISH  LITERATURK  AT  TBINITV  COLLEaR 
CA^IBRICGE 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

1,  8,  AND  5  BOND  STREET. 
1886. 


PEEFACE. 


The  existing  Lives  of  Raleigh  are  very  numerous. 
To  this  day  the  most  interesting  of  these,  as  a  literary 
production,  is  that  published  in  1736  by  William  Oldys, 
afterwards  Norroy  King  at  Arms.  This  book  was  a 
marvel  of  research,  as  well  as  of  biographical  skill,  at 
the  time  of  its  appearance,  but  can  no  longer  compete 
with  later  lives  as  an  authority.  By  a  curious  chance, 
two  writers  who  were  each  ignorant  of  the  other  simul- 
taneously collected  information  regarding  Raleigh,  and 
produced  two  laborious  and  copious  Lives  of  him,  at 
the  same  moment,  in  1868.  Each  of  these  collections, 
respectively  by  Mr.  Edward  Edwards,  whose  death  is 
announced  as  these  words  are  leaving  the  printers,  and 
by  the  late  Mr.  James  Augustus  St.  John,  added  very 
largely  to  our  knowledge  of  Raleigh;  but,  of  course, 
each  of  these  writers  was  precluded  from  using  the  dis- 
coveries of  the  other.  The  present  Life  is  the  first  in 
which  the  fresh  matter  brought  forward  by  Mr.  Edwards 
and  by  Mr.  St.  John  has  been  collated ;  Mr.  Edwards, 
moreover,  deserved  well  of  all  Raleigh  students  by 
editing  for  the  first  time,  in  1868,  the  correspondence 
2^    of  Raleigh.     I  hope  that  I  do  not  seem  to  disparage 

5q 


iv  Preface 

Mr.  Edwards's  book  wlieii  I  say  tliat  in  his  arrangement 
and  conjectural  dating  of  undated  documents  I  am  very 
frequently  in  disaccord  with  him.  The  present  Life 
contains  various  small  data  which  are  now  for  the  first 
time  published,  and  more  than  one  fact  of  considerable 
importance  which  I  owe  to  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  John 
Cordy  Jeaffreson.  I  have,  moreover,  taken  advantage 
up  to  date  of  the  Reports  of  the  Historical  MSS.  Com- 
mission, and  of  the  two  volumes  of  Lismore  Papers  this 
year  published.  In  his  prospectus  to  the  latter  Dr. 
Grosart  promises  us  still  more  about  Ealeigh  in  later 
issues.     My  dates  are  new  style. 

The  present  sketch  of  Raleigh's  life  is  the  first 
attempt  which  has  been  made  to  portray  his  personal 
career  disengaged  from  the  general  history  of  his  time. 
To  keep  so  full  a  life  within  bounds  it  has  been  necessary 
to  pass  rapidly  over  events  of  signal  importance  in  which 
he  took  but  a  secondary  part.  I  may  point  as  an  ex- 
ample to  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  a  chapter 
in  English  history  which  has  usually  occupied  a  large 
space  in  the  chronicle  of  Raleigh  and  his  times.  Mrs. 
Creighton's  excellent  little  volume  on  the  latter  and 
wider  theme  may  be  recommended  to  those  who  wish 
to  see  Raleigh  painted  not  in  a  full-length  portrait,  but 
in  an  historical  composition  of  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth 
and  James  I.  I  have  to  thank  Dr.  Brushfield  for  the 
use  of  his  valuable  Raleigh  bibliography,  now  in  the 
press,  and  for  other  kind  help. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTKH  ^^«" 

I.      TOTJTH  ....•••••         ^ 

II.      AT   COTJKT ^^ 

III.  IN   DISGRACE          ,....•••*<* 

IV.      GUIANA ^^ 

T.      CADIZ  .           .           .           .           » ^ 

TI,  LAST  DATS   OF   ELIZABETH          .           *           .           •           .      .  lU 

Til.  THE   TRIAL   AT  WINCHESTER            .           ...»  132 

Till.      IN   THE   TOWER ^^ 

IX.  THE   SECOND   VOYAGE   TO   GUIANA            ....  183 

X.      THE  END ^°* 

INDEX            o          .          • ^^^ 


MAP  S. 

SOUTH   OP   ENGLAND   AND   IRELAND        .  •  •  .      To  face  p.  \Q 

GUIANA •••••»  70 


EALEIGH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

YOUTH. 

Walter  Raleigh  was  born,  so  Camden  and  an  anony- 
mous astrologer  combine  to  assure  us,  in  1552.  The 
place  was  Hayes  Barton,  a  farmstead  in  the  parish  of 
East  Budleigh,  in  Devonshire,  then  belonging  to  his 
father;  it  passed  out  of  the  family,  and  in  1584  Sir 
Walter  attempted  to  buy  it  back.  'For  the  natural 
disposition  I  have  to  the  place,  being  born  in  that  house, 
I  had  rather  seat  myself  there  than  anywhere  else,'  he 
wrote  to  a  Mr.  Richard  Duke,  the  then  possessor,  who 
refused  to  sell  it.  Genealogists,  from  himself  down- 
wards, have  found  a  rich  treasure  in  Raleigh's  family 
tree,  which  winds  its  branches  into  those  of  some  of 
the  best  Devonshire  houses,  the  Gilberts,  the  Carews, 
the  Champernownes.  His  father,  the  elder  Walter 
Raleigh,  in  his  third  marriage  became  the  second 
husband  of  Katherine  Gilbert,  daughter  of  Sir  Philip 
Champernoun  of  Modbury.  By  Otto  Gilbert,  her  first 
husband,  she  had  been  the  mother  of  two  boys  destined 
to   be   bold  navigators  and  colonists,  Humphrey  and 


2  Raleigh 

Adrian  Gilbert.  It  is  certainly  tlie  influence  of  his  half- 
brother  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  of  Compton,  which  is 
most  strongly  marked  upon  the  character  of  young 
Raleigh;  while  Adrian  was  one  of  his  own  earliest 
converts  to  Virginian  enterprise. 

The  earliest  notice  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  known  to 
exist  was  found  and  communicated  to  the  Transactions 
of  the  Devonshire  Association  by  Dr.  Brushfield  in 
1883.  It  is  in  a  deed  preserved  in  Sidmouth  Church, 
by  which  tithes  of  fish  are  leased  by  the  manor  of 
Sidmouth  to  *  Walter  Rawlegh  the  elder,  Carow  Ralegh, 
and  Walter  Ralegh  the  younger,'  on  September  10, 1560. 
In  1578  the  same  persons  passed  over  their  interest  in 
the  fish' titles  in  another  deed,  which  contains  their 
signatures.  It  is  amusing  to  find  that  the  family  had 
not  decided  how  to  spell  its  name.  The  father  writes 
*  Ralegh,'  his  elder  son  Carew  writes  'Caro  Rawlyh,* 
while  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  in  this  his  earliest 
known  signature,  calls  himself  ^  Rauleygh.' 

His  father  was  a  Protestant  when  young  Walter  was 
born,  but  his  mother  seems  to  have  remained  a  Catholic. 
In  the  persecution  under  Mary,  she,  as  we  learn  from 
Foxe,  went  into  Exeter  to  visit  the  heretics  in  gaol,  and 
in  particular  to  see  Agnes  Prest  before  her  burning.  Mrs. 
Raleigh  began  to  exhort  her  to  repentance,  but  the 
martyr  turned  the  tables  on  her  visitor,  and  urged  the 
gentlewoman  to  seek  the  blessed  body  of  Christ  in 
heaven,  not  on  earth,  and  this  with  so  much  sweet  per- 
suasiveness that  when  Mrs.  Raleigh  '  came  home  to  her 
husband  she  declared  to  him  that  in  her  life  she  never 
heard  any  woman,  of  such  simplicity  to  see  to,  talk  so 
godly  and  so  earnestly ;  insomuch,  that  if  God  were  not 


Youth  3 

with  her  slie  could  not  speak  such  things — "  I  was  not 
able  to  answer  her,  I,  who  can  read,  and  she  cannot." ' 
It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  this  anecdote  would  not  have 
been  preserved  if  the  incident  had  not  heralded  the 
final  secession  of  Raleigh's  parents  from  the  creed  of 
Philip  II.,  and  thus  Agnes  Prest  w^as  not  without  her 
share  in  forging  Raleigh's  hatred  of  bigotry  and  of  the 
Spaniard.  Very  little  else  is  known  about  Walter  and 
Katherine  Raleigh.  They  lived  at  their  manorial  farm 
of  Hayes  Barton,  and  they  were  buried  side  by  side,  as 
their  son  tells  us,  '  in  Exeter  church.' 

The  university  career  of  Raleigh  is  vague  to  us 
in  the  highest  degree.  The  only  certain  fact  is  that 
he  left  Oxford  in  1569.  Anthony  a  Wood  says  that 
he  w^as  three  years  there,  and  that  he  entered  Oriel 
College  as  a  commoner  in  or  about  the  year  156^7 
Fuller  speaks  of  him  as  resident  at  Christ  Church  also. 
Perhaps  he  went  to  Christ  Church  first  as  a  boy  of  four- 
teen, in  1566,  and  removed  to  Oriel  at  sixteen.  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  Hakluyt,  and  Camden  were  all  of  them 
at  Oxford  during  those  years,  and  we  may  conjecture 
that  Raleigh's  acquaintance  with  them  began  there. 
Wood  tells  us  that  Raleigh,  being  '  strongly  advanced 
by  academical  learning  at  Oxford,  under  the  care  of  an 
excellent  tutor,  became  the  ornament  of  the  juniors, 
and  a  proficient  in  oratory  and  philosophy.'  Bacon  and 
Aubrey  preserved  each  an  anecdote  of  Raleigh's  univer- 
sity career,  neither  of  them  worth  repeating  here. 

The  exact  date  at  which  he  left  Oxford  is  uncertain. 
Camden,  who  was  Raleigh's  age,  and  at  the  university 
at  the  same  time,  says  authoritatively  in  his  Annales, 
that  he   was  one  of  a  hundred  gentlemen  volunteers 


4  Raleigh 

taken  to  the  help  of  the  Protestant  princes  by  Henry 
Champernowne,  who  was  Raleigh's  first-cousin,  the  son 
of  his  mother's  elder  brother.  We  learn  from  De  Thou 
that  Champernowne's  contingent  arrived  at  the  Huguenot 
camp  on  October  5,  1569.  This  seems  circumstantial 
enough,  but  there  exist  statements  of  Raleigh's  own 
which  tend  to  show  that,  if  he  was  one  of  his  cousin's 
volunteers,  he  yet  preceded  him  into  France.  In  the 
History  of  the  World  he  speaks  of  personally  remem- 
bering the  conduct  of  the  Protestants,  immediately  after 
the  death  of  Conde,  at  the  battle  of  Jarnac  (March  13, 
1569).  Still  more  positively  Raleigh  says,  'myself 
was  an  eye-witness '  of  the  retreat  at  Moncontour,  on 
October  3,  two  days  before  the  arrival  of  Champernoun. 
A  provoking  obscurity  conceals  Walter  Raleigh  from 
us  for  the  next  six  or  seven  years.  When  Hakluyt 
printed  his  Voyages  in  1589  he  mentioned  that  he 
himself  was  five  years  in  France.  In  a  previous  dedica- 
tion he  had  reminded  Raleigh  that  the  latter  had  made 
a  longer  stay  in  that  country  than  himself.  Raleigh 
has  therefore  been  conjectured  to  have  fought  in  France 
for  six  years,  that  is  to  say,  until  1575. 

During  this  long  and  important  period  we  are  almost 
without  a  glimpse  of  him,  nor  is  it  anything  but  fancy 
which  has  depicted  him  as  shut  up  by  Walsingham 
at  the  English  embassy  in  Paris  on  the  fatal  evening 
of  St.  Bartholomew's.  Another  cousin  of  his,  Gawen 
Champernoun,  became  the  son-in-law  and  follower  of 
the  Huguenot  chief,  Montgomery,  whose  murder  on 
June  26,  1574,  may  very  possibly  have  put  a  term 
to  Raleigh's  adventures  as  a  Protestant  soldier  in 
France.      The   allusions  to  his   early  experiences  are 


Youth  5 

rare  and  slight  in  the  History  of  the  Woi'ld^  but  one 
curious  passage  has  often  been  quoted.  In  illustration 
of  the  way  in  which  Alexander  the  Great  harassed 
Bessus,  Raleigh  mentions  that,  *  in  the  third  civil  war 
of  France,'  he  saw  certain  Catholics,  who  had  retired 
to  mountain-caves  in  Languedoc,  smoked  out  of  their 
retreat  by  the  burning  of  bundles  of  straw  at  the  cave's 
mouth.  There  has  lately  been  shown  to  be  no  proba- 
bility in  the  conjecture,  made  by  several  of  his  biogra- 
phers, that  he  was  one  of  the  English  volunteers  in  the 
Low  Countries  who  fought  in  their  shirts  and  drawers 
at  the  battle  of  Rimenant  in  August  1578. 

On  April  15,  1576,  the  poet  Gascoigne,  who  was 
a  protege  of  Raleigh's  half-brother,  issued  his  satire 
in  blank  verse,  entitled  The  Steel  Glass^  a  little  volume 
which  holds  an  important  place  in  the  development 
of  our  poetical  literature.  To  this  satire  a  copy  of 
eighteen  congratulatory  verses  was  prefixed  by  '  Walter 
Rawely  of  the  middle  Temple.'  These  lines  are  per- 
functory and  are  noticeable  only  for  their  heading  '  of 
the  middle  Temple.'  Raleigh  positively  tells  us  that  he 
never  studied  law  until  he  found  himself  a  prisoner  in 
the  Tower,  and  he  was  probably  only  a  passing  lodger 
in  some  portion  of  the  Middle  Temple  in  1576.  On 
October  7,  1577,  Gascoigne  died  prematurely  and  de- 
prived us  of  a  picturesque  pen  which  might  have  gossiped 
of  Raleigh's  early  career. 

I  am  happy,  through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  J.  Cordy 
Jeaffreson,  in  being  able  for  the  first  time  to  prove  that 
Walter  Raleigh  was  admitted  to  the  Court  as  early  as 
1577.  So  much  has  been  suspected,  from  his  language 
to  Leicester  in  a  later  letter  from  Ireland,  but  there  has 


6  Raleigh 

kitherto  been  no  evidence  of  the  fact.  In  examining 
the  Middlesex  records,  Mr.  JeafFreson  has  discovered 
that  on  the  night  of  December  16,  1577,  a  party  of 
merry  roisterers  broke  the  peace  at  Hornsey.  Their 
ringleaders  were  a  certain  Richard  Paunsford  and  his 
brother,  who  are  described  in  the  recognisances  taken 
next  day  before  the  magistrate  Jasper  Fisher  as  the 
servants  of  '  Walter  Rawley,  of  Islington,  Esq.,'  and  two 
days  later  as  yeoman  in  the  service  of  Walter  Rawley, 
Esq.,  '  of  the  Court  (de  curia)' 

It  is  very  important  to  find  him  thus  early  officially 
described  as  of  the  Court.  As  Raleigh  afterwards  said, 
the  education  of  his  youth  was  a  training  in  the  arts  of 
a  gentleman  and  a  soldier.  But  it  extended  further  than 
this — it  embraced  an  extraordinary  knowledge  of  the  sea, 
and  in  particular  of  naval  warfare.  It  is  tantalising  that 
we  have  but  the  slenderest  evidence  of  the  mode  in  which 
this  particular  schooling  was  obtained.  The  western  ocean 
was,  all  through  the  youth  of  Raleigh,  the  most  fasci- 
nating and  mysterious  of  the  new  fields  which  were 
being  thrown  open  to  English  enterprise.  He  was  a 
babe  when  Tonson  came  back  with  the  first  wonderful 
legend  of  the  hidden  treasure-house  of  the  Spaniard  in 
the  West  Indies.  He  was  at  Oxford  when  England 
tlirilled  with  the  news  of  Hawkins'  tragical  third  voyage. 
He  came  back  from  France  just  in  time  to  share  the 
general  satisfaction  at  Drake's  revenge  for  San  Juan  de 
Ulloa.  All  through  his  early  days  the  splendour  and 
perilous  romance  of  the  Spanish  Indies  hung  before  him, 
inflaming  his  fancy,  rousing  his  ambition.  In  his  own 
family.  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  represented  a  milder  and 
more   generous   class  of  adventurers   than  Drake  and 


Youth  7 

Hawkins,  a  race  more  set  on  discov^ery  and  colonisation 
than  on  mere  brutal  rapine,  the  race  of  which  Kaleigh 
was  ultimately  to  become  the  most  illustrious  example. 
If  we  possessed  minute  accounts  of  the  various  expedi- 
tions in  which  Gilbert  took  part,  we  should  probably  find 
that  his  young  half-brother  was  often  his  companion. 
As  early  as  1584  Barlow  addresses  Raleigh  as  one 
personally  conversant  with  the  islands  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  there  was  a  volume,  never  printed  and 
now  lost,  written  about  the  same  time,  entitled  Sir 
Walter  RaleigJis  Voyage  to  tlie  West  Indies.  This  expe- 
dition, no  other  allusion  to  which  has  survived,  must 
have  taken  place  before  he  went  to  Ireland  in  1580,  and 
may  be  conjecturally  dated  1577. 

The  incidents  of  the  next  two  years  may  be  rapidly 
noted ;  they  are  all  of  them  involved  in  obscurity.  It 
is  known  that  Raleigh  crossed  the  Atlantic  for  a  second 
time  on  board  one  of  the  ships  of  Gilbert's  ill-starred 
expedition  to  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the  winter  of  1578. 
In  February  of  the  next  year^  he  was  again  in  London, 
and  was  committed  to  the  Fleet  Prison  for  a  '  fray '  with 
another  courtier.  In  September  1579,  he  was  involved 
in  Sir  Philip  Sidney's  tennis-court  quarrel  with  Lord 
Oxford.  In  May  of  this  same  year  he  w^as  stopped  at 
Plymouth  when  in  the  act  of  starting  on  a  piratical 
expedition  against  Spanish  America.  He  had  work  to 
do  in  opposing  Spain  nearer  home,  and  he  first  comes 
clearly  before  us  in  connection  with  the  Catholic  invasion 
of  Ireland  in  the  close  of  1579.      It  was  on  July  17, 

•  Mr.  Edwards  corrects  the  date  to  1680  N.S.,  but  this  is  mani- 
festly wrong ;  on  the  7th  of  February  1580  N.S.  Raleigh  was  on  the 
Atlantic  making  for  Cork  Harbour. 

2 


8  Raleigh 

1579,  that  the  Catholic  expedition  from  Ferrol  landed 
at  Dingle.  Fearing  to  stay  there,  it  passed  four  miles 
westward  to  Smerwick  Bay,  and  there  built  a  fortress 
called  Fort  del  Ore,  on  a  sandy  isthmus,  thinking  in 
case  of  need  easily  to  slip  away  to  the  ocean.  The 
murder  of  an  English  officer,  who  was  stabbed  in  his 
bed  while  the  guest  of  the  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, was  recommended  by  Sandars  the  legate  as  a 
sweet  sacrifice  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  ruthlessly  com- 
mitted. The  result  was  what  Sandars  had  foreseen ;  the 
Geraldines,  hopelessly  compromised,  threw  up  the  fiction 
of  loyalty  to  Elizabeth.  Sir  Nicholas  Malby  defeated 
the  rebels  in  the  Limerick  woods  in  September,  but 
in  return  the  Geraldines  burned  Youghal  and  drove  the 
Deputy  within  the  walls  of  Cork,  where  he  died  of 
chagrin.  •  The  temporary  command  fell  on  an  old  friend 
of  Raleigh's,  Sir  Warham  Sentleger,  who  wrote  in 
December  1579  a  letter  of  earnest  appeal  which  broke 
up  the  apathy  of  the  English  Government.  Among 
other  steps  hurriedly  taken  to  uphold  the  Queen's  power 
in  Ireland,  young  Walter  Raleigh  was  sent  where  his 
half-brother,  Humphrey  Gilbert,  had  so  much  distin- 
guished himself  ten  years  before. 

The  biographer  breathes  more  freely  when  he  holds 
at  last  the  earliest  letter  which  remains  in  the  hand- 
writing of  his  hero.  All  else  may  be  erroneous  or  con- 
jectural, but  here  at  least,  for  a  moment,  he  presses  his 
fingers  upon  the  very  pulse  of  the  machine.  On 
February  22,  1580,  Raleigh  wrote  from  Cork  to 
Burghley,  giving  him  an  account  of  his  voyage.  It 
appears  that  he  wrote  on  the  day  of  his  arrival,  and  if 
that  be  the  case,  he  left  London,  and  passed  down  the 


Youth  9 

Thames,  in  command  of  a  troop  of  one  hundred  foot 
soldiers,  on  January  15, 1580.  By  the  same  computation, 
they  reached  the  Isle  of  Wight  on  the  21st,  and  stayed 
there  to  be  transferred  into  ships  of  Her  Majesty's  fleet, 
not  starting  again  until  February  5.  On  his  reaching 
Cork,  Raleigh  found  that  his  men  and  he  were  only  to  be 
paid  from  the  day  of  their  arrival  in  Ireland,  and  he 
wrote  off  at  once  to  Burghley  to  secure,  if  possible,  the 
arrears.  His  arrival  was  a  welcome  reinforcement  to 
Sentleger,  who  was  holding  Cork  in  the  greatest  peril, 
with  only  forty  Englishmen.  It  must  be  recollected  that 
this  force  under  Raleigh  was  but  a  fragment  of  what 
English  squadrons  were  busily  bringing  through  this 
month  of  January  into  every  port  of  Ireland.  Elizabeth 
had,  at  last,  awakened  in  earnest  to  her  danger. 

Raleigh,  in  all  probability,  took  no  part  in  the 
marchings  and  skirmishings  of  the  English  armies  until 
the  summer.  His '  reckoning,'  or  duty-pay,  as  a  captain 
in  the  field,  begins  on  July  13,  1580,  and  perhaps, 
until  that  date,  his  services  consisted  in  defending  Cork 
under  Sentleger.  In  August  he  was  joined  with  the 
latter,  who  was  now  Provost-marshal  of  Munster,  in  a 
commission  to  try  Sir  James,  the  younger  brother  of 
the  Earl  of  Desmond,  who  had  been  captured  by  the 
Sheriff  of  Cork.  No  mercy  could  be  expected  by  so 
prominent  a  Geraldine ;  he  was  hanged,  drawn  and 
quartered,  and  the  fragments  of  his  body  were  hung 
in  chains  over  the  gates  of  Cork.  Meanwhile,  on 
August  12,  Lord  Grey  de  Wilton  arrived  in  Dublin 
to  relieve  Pelham  of  sovereigii  command  in  Ireland. 
Grey,  though  he  learned  to  dislike  Raleigh,  was  pro- 
bably more  cognisant  of  his  powers  than  Pelham,  who 


10  Raleigh 

may  never  have  heard  of  him.  Grey  had  been  the 
patron  of  the  poet  Gascoigne,  and  one  of  the  most  pro- 
minent men  in  the  group  with  whom  we  have  already 
seen  that  Raleigh  was  identified  in  his  early  youth. 

From  the  moment  of  Grey's  arrival  in  Ireland,  the 
name  of  Raleigh  ceased  to  be  obscure.  Sir  William 
Pelham  retired  on  September  7,  and  Lord  Grey,  who  had 
brought  the  newly  famous  poet,  Edmund  Spenser,  with 
him  as  his  secretary,  marched  into  Munster.  With  his 
exploits  we  have  nothing  to  do,  save  to  notice  that  it 
must  have  been  in  the  camp  at  Rakele,  if  not  on  the 
battle-field  of  Glenmalure,  that  Raleigh  began  his 
momentous  friendship  with  Spenser,  whose  Shepherd's 
Calender  had  inaugurated  a  new  epoch  in  English 
poetry  just  a  month  before  Raleigh's  departure  for 
Ireland.  It  is  scarcely  too  fanciful  to  believe  that  this 
tiny  anonymous  volume  of  delicious  song  may  have 
lightened  the  weariness  of  that  winter  voyage  of  1580, 
which  was  to  prove  so  momentous  in  the  career  of 
^  the  Shepherd  of  the  Ocean.'  Lodovick  Bryskett,  Fulke 
Greville,  Barnabee  Googe,  and  Geoffrey  Fenton  were 
minor  songsters  of  the  copious  Elizabethan  age  who 
were  now  in  Munster  as  agents  or  soldiers,  and  we  may 
suppose  that  the  tedious  guerilla  warfare  in  the  woods 
had  its  hours  of  literary  recreation  for  Raleigh. 

The  fortress  on  the  peninsula  of  Dingle  was  now 
occupied  by  a  fresh  body  of  Catholic  invaders,  mainly 
Italians,  and  Smerwick  Bay  again  attracted  general 
interest.  Grey,  as  Deputy,  and  Ormond,  as  governor  of 
Munster,  united  their  forces  and  marched  towards  this 
extremity  of  Kerry ;  Raleigh,  with  his  infantry,  joined 
them  at  Rakele  ;  and  we  may  take  September  30,  1580, 


Youth  ii 

which  is  the  date  when  his  first  ^  reckoning  '  closes,  as 
that  on  which  he  took  some  fresh  kind  of  service  under 
Lord  Grey.  Hooker,  who  was  an  eye-witness,  supplies 
us  with  some  very  interesting  glimpses  of  Raleigh  in 
his  Siq^ph/  of  the  Irish  Chronicles^  a  supplement  to 
Holinshed.  We  learn  from  him  that  when  Lord  Grey 
broke  into  the  camp  at  Rakele,  Raleigh  stayed  behind, 
having  observed  that  the  kerns  had  the  habit  of  swooping 
down  upon  any  deserted  encampment  to  rob  and  murder 
the  camp  followers.  This  expectation  was  fulfilled ;  the 
hungry  Irish  poured  into  Rakele  as  soon  as  the  Deputy's 
back  was  turned.  Raleigh  had  the  satisfaction  of  captur- 
ing a  large  body  of  these  poor  creatures.  One  of  them 
carried  a  gi'eat  bundle  of  withies,  and  Raleigh  asked  him 
what  they  were  for.  '  To  have  hung  up  the  English 
churls  with,'  was  the  bold  reply.  '  Well,'  said  Raleigh, 
*  but  now  they  shall  serve  for  an  Irish  kern,'  and  com- 
manded him  '  to  be  immediately  tucked  up  in  one  of  his 
own  neck-bands.'  The  rest  were  served  in  a  similar  way, 
and  then  the  young  Englishman  rode  on  after  the  army. 
Towards  the  end  of  October  they  came  in  sight  of 
Smerwick  Bay,  and  of  the  fort  on  the  sandy  isthmus  in 
which  the  Italians  and  Spaniards  were  lying  in  the 
hope  of  slipping  back  to  Spain.  The  Legate  had  no 
sanguine  aspirations  left ;  every  roof  that  could  harbour 
the  Geraldines  had  been  destroyed  in  the  English 
forays ;  Desmond  was  hiding,  like  a  wild  beast,  in  the 
Wood.  By  all  the  principles  of  modern  warfare,  the  time 
had  come  for  mercy  and  conciliation,  and  one  man  in 
Ireland,  Ormond,  thought  as  much.  But  Lord  Grey 
was  a  soldier  of  the  old  disposition,  an  implacable  enemy 
to  Popery,  what  we  now  call  a  *  Puritan '  of  the  most 


12  Raleigh 

fierce  and  frigid  type.  There  is  no  evidence  to  show 
that  the  gentle  Englishmen  who  accompanied  hira,  some 
of  the  best  and  loveliest  spirits  of  the  age,  shrank  from 
sharing  his  fanaticism.  There  was  massacre  to  be  gone 
through,  but  neither  Edmund  Spenser,  nor  Fulke  Gre- 
ville,  nor  Walter  Ealeigh  dreamed  of  withdrawing  his 
sanction.  The  story  has  been  told  and  retold.  For 
simple  horror  it  is  surpassed,  in  the  Irish  history  of 
the  time,  only  by  the  earlier  exploit  which  depopulated 
the  island  of  Rathlin.  In  the  perfectly  legitimate  open- 
ing of  the  siege  of  Fort  del  Ore,  Raleigh  held  a  very 
prominent  commission,  and  we  see  that  his  talents 
were  rapidly  being  recognised,  from  the  fact  that  for  the 
first  three  days  he  was  entrusted  with  the  principal  com- 
mand. It  would  appear  that  on  the  fourth  day,  when  the 
Italians  waved  their  white  flag  and  screamed  'Miseri- 
cordia !  misericordia ! '  it  was  not  Raleigh,  but  Zouch, 
who  was  commanding  in  the  trenches.  The  parley  the 
Catholics  demanded  was  refused,  and  they  were  told 
they  need  not  hope  for  mercy.  Next  day,  which  was 
November  9,  1580,  the  fort  yielded  helplessly.  Raleigh 
and  Mackworth  received  Grey's  orders  to  enter  and 
^  fall  straight  to  execution.' 

It  was  thought  proper  to  give  Catholic  Europe  a  warn- 
ing not  to  meddle  with  Catholic  Ireland.  In  the  words  of 
the  official  report  immediately  sent  home  to  Walsingham, 
as  soon  as  the  fort  was  yielded,  ^  all  the  Irish  men  and 
women  were  hanged,  and  600  and  upwards  of  Italians, 
Spaniards,  Biscayans  and  others  put  to  the  sword.  The 
Colonel,  Captain,  Secretary,  Campmaster,  and  others  of 
the  best  sort,  saved  to  the  number  of  20  persons.'  Of 
these  last,  two  had  their  arms  and  legs  broken  before 


Youth  i  3 

being  hanged  on  a  gallows  on  the  wall  of  the  fort.  The 
bodies  of  the  six  hundred  were  stripped  and  laid  out  on 
the  sands — *  as  gallant  goodly  personages,'  Lord  Grey  re- 
ported, ^  as  ever  were  beheld.'  The  Deputy  took  all  the 
responsibility  and  expected  no  blame ;  he  received  none. 
In  reply  to  his  report,  Elizabeth  assured  him  a  month 
later  that  '  this  late  enterprise  had  been  performed  by 
him  greatly  to  her  liking.'  It  is  useless  to  expatiate  on 
a  code  of  morals  that  seems  to  us  positively  Japanese. 
To  Lord  Grey  and  the  rest  the  rebellious  kerns  and  their 
Southern  allies  were  enemies  of  God  and  the  Queen, 
beyond  the  scope  of  mercy  in  this  world  or  the  next,  and 
no  more  to  be  spared  or  paltered  with  than  malignant 
vermin.  In  his  inexperience,  Raleigh,  to  be  soon 
ripened  by  knowledge  of  life  and  man,  agreed  with  this 
view,  but,  happily  for  Ireland  and  England  too,  there 
were  others  who  declined  to  sink,  as  ^Ir.  Froude  says, 
'  to  the  level  of  the  Catholic  continental  tyrannies.'  At 
Ormond's  instigation  the  Queen  sent  over  in  April  1581 
a  general  pardon. 

Severe  as  Lord  Grey  was,  he  seemed  too  lenient 
to  Raleigh.  In  January  1581,  the  young  captain  left 
Cork  and  made  the  perilous  journey  to  Dublin  to  ex- 
postulate with  the  Deputy,  and  to  urge  him  to  treat 
with  greater  stringency  various  Munster  chieftains  who 
were  blowing  the  embers  of  the  rebellion  into  fresh 
flame.  Among  these  malcontents  the  worst  was  a  cer- 
tain David  Barry,  son  of  Lord  Barry,  himself  a  prisoner 
in  Dublin  Castle.  David  Barry  had  placed  the  family 
stronghold,  Barry  Court,  at  the  disposal  of  the  Geral- 
dines.  Raleigh  obtained  permission  to  seize  and  hold 
this  property,  and  returned  from  Dublin  to  carry  out  his 


14  Raleigh 

duty.  On  his  way  back,  as  lie  was  approaching  Barry's 
country,  with  his  men  straggling  behind  him,  the 
Seneschal  of  Imokelly,  the  strongest  and  craftiest  of 
the  remaining  Geraldines,  laid  an  ambush  to  seize  him 
at  the  ford  of  Corabby.  Raleigh  not  only  escaped 
himself,  but  returned  in  the  face  of  a  force  which  was 
to  his  as  twenty  to  one,  in  order  to  rescue  a  comrade 
whose  horse  had  thrown  him  in  the  river.  With  a 
quarter-staff  in  one  hand  and  a  pistol  in  the  other, 
he  held  the  Seneschal  and  his  kerns  at  bay,  and  brought 
his  little  body  of  troops  through  the  ambush  without  the 
loss  of  one  man.  In  the  dreary  monotony  of  the  war, 
this  brilliant  act  of  courage,  of  which  Raleigh  himself  in 
a  letter  gives  a  very  modest  account,  touched  the  popular 
heart,  and  did  as  much  as  anything  to  make  him  famous. 
The  existing  documents  which  illustrate  Raleigh's 
life  in  Ireland  during  1581,  and  they  are  somewhat 
numerous,  give  the  student  a  much  higher  notion  of 
his  brilliant  aptitude  for  business  and  of  his  active 
courage  than  of  his  amiability.  His  vivacity  and  in- 
genuity were  sources  of  irritation  to  him,  as  the  vigour 
of  an  active  man  may  vex  him  in  wading  across  loose 
sands.  There  was  no  stability  and  apparently  no  hope 
or  aim  in  the  policy  of  the  English  leaders,  and  Raleigh 
showed  no  mock-modesty  in  his  criticism  of  that  policy. 
Ormond  had  been  on  friendly  terms  with  him,  but  as 
early  as  February  25  a  quarrel  was  ready  to  break  out. 
Ormond  wished  to  hold  Barry  Court,  which  was  the 
key  to  the  important  road  between  Cork  and  Youghal,  as 
his  own ;  while  Raleigh  was  no  less  clamorous  in  claim- 
ing it.  In  the  summer,  not  satisfied  with  complaining 
of  Ormond  to  Grey,  he  denounced  Grey  to  Leicester. 


Youth  i  5 

In  tlie  meantime  lie  had  succeeded  in  ousting  Ormond, 
who  was  recalled  to  England,  and  in  getting  himself 
made,  if  not  nominally,  practically  Governor  of  Munster. 
He  proceeded  to  Lismore,  then  the  English  capital 
of  the  province,  and  made  that  town  the  centre  of 
those  incessant  sallies  and  forays  which  Hooker  de- 
scribes. One  of  these  skirmishes,  closing  in  the  defeat 
of  Lord  Barry  at  Cleve,  showed  consummate  military 
ability,  and  deserves  almost  to  rank  as  a  battle. 

In  August,  Raleigh's  temporary  governorship  of 
Munster  ended.  He  was  too  young  and  too  little 
known  a  man  permanently  to  hold  such  a  post.  Zouch 
took  his  place  at  Lismore,  and  Raleigh,  returning  to 
Cork,  was  made  Governor  of  that  city.  It  was  at  this 
time,  or  possibly  a  little  earlier  in  the  year,  that  Raleigh 
made  his  romantic  attack  upon  Castle  Bally-in-Harsh, 
the  seat  of  Lord  Roche.  On  the  very  same  evening 
that  Raleigh  received  a  hint  from  head-quarters  that 
the  capture  of  this  strongly  fortified  place  was  desirable, 
he  set  out  with  ninety  men  on  the  adventure.  His 
troop  arrived  at  Harsh  very  early  in  the  morning,  but 
not  so  early  but  that  the  townspeople,  to  the  number 
of  five  hundred,  had  collected  to  oppose  his  little  force. 
He  soon  put  them  to  flight,  and  then,  by  a  nimble 
trick,  contrived  to  enter  the  castle  itself,  to  seize  Lord 
and  Lady  Roche  at  their  breakfast-table,  to  slip  out 
with  them  and  through  the  town  unmolested,  and  to 
regain  Cork  next  day  with  the  loss  of  only  a  single 
man.  The  whole  affair  was  a  piece  of  military  sleight 
of  hand,  brilliantly  designed,  incomparably  well  carried 
out.  The  summer  and  autumn  were  passed  in  scouring 
the  woods  and  ravines  of  Munster  from  Tipperary  to 


1 6  Raleigh 

Kilkenny.  Miserable  work  he  found  it,  and  glad  lie 
must  have  been  when  a  summons  from  London  put  an 
end  to  his  military  service  in  Ireland.  In  two  years  he 
had  won  a  great  reputation.  Elizabeth,  it  may  well  be, 
desired  to  see  him,  and  talk  with  him  on  what  he  called 
*■  the  business  of  this  lost  land.'  In  December  1581  he 
returned  to  England. 

One  point  more  may  be  mentioned.  In  a  letter 
dated  May  1,  1581,  Raleigh  offers  to  rebuild  the  ruined 
fortress  of  Barry  Court  at  his  own  expense.  This  shows 
that  he  must  by  this  time  have  come  into  a  certain 
amount  of  property,  for  his  Irish  pay  as  a  captain  was, 
he  says,  so  poor  that  but  for  honour  he  '  would  disdain 
it  as  much  as  to  keep  sheep.'  This  fact  disposes  of  the 
notion  that  Raleigh  arrived  at  the  Court  of  Elizabeth 
in  the  guise  of  a  handsome  penniless  adventurer.  Per- 
haps he  had  by  this  time  inherited  his  share  of  the 
paternal  estates.^ 

*  Dr.  Brushfield  has  found  no  mention  of  the  elder  Walter 
Kaleigh  later  than  April  11,  1578.  As  he  was  born  in  1497,  he  must 
then  have  been  over  eighty  years  of  age. 


SOUTH  OF  ENGLAND  AND  lEELAND. 


CHAPTER  n. 

AT  COURT. 

Raleigh  had  not  completed  his  thirtieth  year  when  he 
became  a  recognised  courtier.  We  have  seen  that  he 
had  passed,  four  years  before,  within  the  precincts  of  the 
Court,  but  we  do  not  know  whether  the  Queen  had 
noticed  him  or  not.  In  the  summer  of  1581  he  had 
written  thus  to  Leicester  from  Lismore : — 

I  may  not  forget  continually  to  put  your  Honour  in 
mind  of  my  affection  unto  your  Lordship,  having  to  the 
world  both  professed  and  protested  the  same.  Your 
Honour,  having  no  use  of  such  poor  followers,  hath  utterly 
forgotten  me.  Notwithstanding,  if  your  Lordship  shall 
please  to  think  me  yours,  as  I  am,  I  will  be  found  as  ready, 
and  dare  do  as  much  in  your  service,  as  any  man  you  may 
command ;  and  do  neither  so  much  despair  of  myself  but 
that  I  may  be  some  way  able  to  perform  so  much. 

To  Leicester,  then,  we  may  be  sure,  he  went, — to  find 
him,  and  the  whole  Court  with  him,  in  the  throes  of 
the  Queen's  latest  and  final  matrimonial  embroilment. 
Raleigh  had  a  few  weeks  in  which  to  admire  the  empty 
and  hideous  suitor  whom  France  had  sent  over  to  claim 
Elizabeth's  hand,  and  during  this  critical  time  it  is 
possible  that  he  enjoyed  his  personal  introduction  to  the 
3 


1 8  Raleigh 

Queen.  Walter  Raleigh  in  the  prime  of  his  strength 
and  beauty  formed  a  curious  contrast  to  poor  Alenpon, 
and  the  difference  was  one  which  Elizabeth  would  not 
fail  to  recognise.  On  February  1,  1582,  he  was  paid 
the  sum  of  200L  for  his  Irish  services,  and  a  week  later 
he  set  out  under  Leicester,  in  company  with  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,  among  the  throng  that  conducted  the  French 
prince  to  the  Netherlands. 

When  Elizabeth's  '  poor  frog,'  as  she  called  Alenpon, 
had  been  duly  led  through  the  gorgeous  pageant  pre- 
pared in  his  honour  at  Antwerp,  on  February  17,  the 
English  lords  and  their  train,  glad  to  be  free  of  their 
burden,  passed  to  Flushing,  and  hastened  home  with 
as  little  ceremony  as  might  be.  Ealeigh  alone  remained 
behind,  to  carry  some  special  message  of  compliment 
from  the  Queen  to  the  Prince  of  Orange.  It  is  Raleigh 
himself,  in  his  Invention  of  SMjyping,  who  gives  us  this 
interesting  information,  and  he  goes  on  to  say  that  when 
the  Prince  of  Orange  *  delivered  me  his  letters  to  her 
Majesty,  he  prayed  me  to  say  to  the  Queen  from  him, 
Sub  urribra  alarum  tuarum  jprotegimur :  for  certainly, 
said  he,  they  had  withered  in  the  bud,  and  sunk  in  the 
beginning  of  their  navigation,  had  not  her  Majesty 
assisted  them.'  It  would  have  been  natural  to  entrust 
to  Leicester  such  confidential  utterances  as  these  were 
a  reply  to.  But  Elizabeth  was  passing  through  a 
paroxysm  of  rage  with  Leicester  at  the  moment.  She 
ventured  to  call  him  '  traitor '  and  to  accuse  him  of 
conspiring  with  the  Prince  of  Orange.  Notwithstanding 
this,  his  influence  was  still  paramount  with  her,  and  it 
was  characteristic  of  her  shrewd  petulance  to  confide  in 
Leicester's  p'otege,  although  not  in  Leicester  himself. 


At  Court  19 

Towards   the   end   of  March,  Raleigh   settled   at   the 
English  Court. 

On  April  1,  1582,  Elizabeth  issued  from  Greenwich  a 
strange  and  self-contradictory  warrant  with  regard  to 
service  in  Ireland,  and  the  band  of  infantry  hitherto  com- 
manded in  that  country  by  a  certain  Captain  Annesley, 
now  deceased.     The  words  must  be  quoted  verbatim  : — 

For  that  our  pleasure  is  to  have  our  servant  Walter 
Rawley  [this  was  the  way  in  which  the  name  was  pro- 
nounced during  Raleigh's  life-time]  trained  some  time  longer 
in  that  our  realm  [Ireland]  for  his  better  experience  in 
martial  affairs,  and  for  the  especial  care  which  We  have  to 
do  him  good,  in  respect  of  his  kindred  that  have  served  Us, 
some  of  them  (as  you  know)  near  about  Our  person  [pro- 
bably Mrs.  Catherine  Ashley,  who  was  Raleigh's  aunt]  ; 
these  are  to  require  you  that  the  leading  of  the  said  band 
may  be  committed  to  the  said  Rawley  ;  and  for  that  he  is, 
for  some  considerations,  by  Us  excused  to  stay  here.  Our 
pleasure  is  that  the  said  band  be,  in  the  meantime,  till  he 
repair  into  that  Our  realm,  delivered  to  some  such  as  he 
shall  depute  to  be  his  lieutenant  there. 

He  is  to  be  captain  in  Ireland,  but  not  just  yet,  not 
till  a  too  tender  Queen  can  spare  him.  We  find  that 
he  was  paid  his  ^  reckoning '  for  six  months  after  the 
issue  of  this  warrant,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  he 
was  spared  at  any  time  during  1582  to  relieve  his  Irish 
deputy.  He  was  now,  in  fact,  installed  as  first  favourite 
in  the  still  susceptible  heart  of  the  Virgin  Star  of  the 
North. 

This,  then,  is  a  favourable  opportunity  for  pausing 
to  consider  what  manner  of  man  it  was  who  had  so  sud- 
denly passed  into  the  intimate  favour  of  the  Queen. 


20  Raleigh 

Naunton  has  described  Ealeigh  with  the  precision  of  one 
who  is  superior  to  the  weakness  of  depreciating  the 
exterior  qualities  of  his  enemy  :  '  having  a  good  presence, 
in  a  handsome  and  well-compacted  person ;  a  strong 
natural  wit,  and  a  better  judgment;  with  a  bold  and 
plausible  tongue,  whereby  he  could  set  out  his  parts  to 
the  best  advantage/  His  face  had  neither  the  ethereal 
beauty  of  Sidney's  nor  the  intellectual  delicacy  of 
Spenser's ;  it  was  cast  in  a  rougher  mould  than  theirs. 
The  forehead,  it  is  acknowledged,  was  too  high  for  the 
proportion  of  the  features,  and  for  this  reason,  perhaps, 
is  usually  hidden  in  the  portraits  by  a  hat.  We  must 
think  of  Raleigh  at  this  time  as  a  tall,  somewhat  bony 
man,  about  six  feet  high,  with  dark  hair  and  a  high 
colour,  a  facial  expression  of  great  brightness  and  alert- 
ness, personable  from  the  virile  force  of  his  figure,  and 
illustrating  these  attractions  by  a  splendid  taste  in 
dress.  His  clothes  were  at  all  times  noticeably  gor- 
geous ;  and  to  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  commonly 
bedizened  with  precious  stones  to  his  very  shoes.  When 
he  was  arrested  in  1603  he  was  carrying  4,000L  in 
jewels  on  his  bosom,  and  when  he  was  finally  captured 
on  August  10,  1618,  his  pockets  were  found  full  of  the 
diamonds  and  jacinths  which  he  had  hastily  removed 
from  various  parts  of  his  person.  His  letters  display 
his  solicitous  love  of  jewels,  velvets,  and  embroidered 
damasks.  Mr.  JeafFreson  has  lately  found  among  the 
Middlesex  MSS.  that  as  early  as  April  26,  1584,  a 
gentleman  named  Hugh  Pew  stole  at  Westminster  and 
carried  off  Walter  Raleigh's  pearl  hat-band  and  another 
jewelled  article  of  attire,  valued  together  in  money 
of    that   time   at    Wol.     The  owner,   with   character- 


At  Court  21 

tt 
istic  promptitude,  shut  the  thief  up  in  Newgate,  and 

made  him  disgorge.  To  complete  our  picture  of  the 
vigorous  and  brilliant  soldier-poet,  we  must  add  that 
he  spoke  to  the  end  of  his  life  with  that  strong  Devon- 
shire accent  which  was  never  displeasing  to  the  ears  of 
Elizabeth. 

The  Muse  of  Ilistory  is  surely  now-a-days  too  dis- 
dainful of  all  information  that  does  not  reach  her  signed 
and  countersigned.  In  biography,  at  least,  it  must  be 
a  mistake  ta  accept  none  but  documentary  evidence, 
since  tradition,  if  it  does  not  give  us  truth  of  fact,  gives 
us  what  is  often  at  least  as  valuable,  truth  of  impression. 
The  later  biographers  of  Raleigh  have  scorned  even  to 
repeat  those  anecdotes  that  are  the  best  known  to  the 
public  of  all  which  cluster  around  his  personality.  It 
is  true  that  they  rest  on  no  earlier  testimony  than  that 
of  Fuller,  who,  writing  in  the  lifetime  of  men  who 
knew  Raleigh,  gives  the  following  account  of  his  intro- 
duction to  Elizabeth  :  '  Her  Majesty,  meeting  with  a 
plashy  place,  made  some  scruple  to  go  on ;  when 
Raleigh  (dressed  in  the  gay  and  genteel  habit  of  those 
times)  presently  cast  off  and  spread  his  new  plush  cloak 
on  the  ground,  whereon  the  queen  trod  gently  over, 
rewarding  him  afterwards  with  many  suits  for  his  so 
free  and  seasonable  tender  of  so  fair  a  foot  cloth.'  The 
only  point  about  this  story  which  is  incredible  is  that 
this  act  was  Raleigh's  introduction  to  the  Queen. 
Regarded  as  a  fantastic  incident  of  their  later  attach- 
ment, the  anecdote  is  in  the  highest  degree  character- 
istic of  the  readiness  of  the  one  and  the  romantic 
sentiment  of  the  other. 

Not  less  entertaining  is  Fuller's  other  story,  that  at 


22  Raleigh 

the  full  tide  of  Raleigh's  fortunes  with  the  Queen,  he 
wrote  on  a  pane  of  glass  with  his  diamond  ring : — 

Fain  would  I  climb,  but  that  I  fear  to  fall, 

whereupon  Elizabeth  replied, 

If  thy  heart  fail  thee,  then  climb  not  at  all. 

Of  these  tales  we  can  only  assert  that  they  reflect  the 
popular  and  doubtless  faithful  impression  of  Raleigh's 
mother-wit  and  audacious  alacrity. 

If  he  did  not  go  back  to  fight  in  Ireland,  his  experi- 
ence of  Irish  affairs  was  made  use  of  by  the  Government. 
He  showed  a  considerable  pliancy  in  giving  his  counsel. 
In  May  1581  he  had  denounced  Ormond  and  even  Grey 
for  not  being  severe  enough,  but  in  June  1582  he  had 
veered  round  to  Burghley's  opinion  that  it  was  time  to 
moderate  English  tyranny  in  Ireland.  A  paper  written 
partly  by  Burghley  and  partly  by  Raleigh,  but  entitled 
The  Opinion  of  Mr.  Rawley^  still  exists  among  the  Irish 
Correspondence,  and  is  dated  October  25,  1582.  This 
document  is  in  the  highest  degree  conciliatory  towards 
the  Irish  chieftains,  whom  it  recommends  the  Queen  to 
win  over  peacefully  to  her  side,  this  policy  '  ofiering  a 
very  plausible  show  of  thrift  and  commodity.'  It  is 
interesting  to  find  Raleigh  so  supple,  and  so  familiar 
already  with  the  Queen's  foibles.  It  was  probably 
earlier  in  the  year,  and  about  this  same  Irish  business, 
that  Raleigh  spoke  to  Elizabeth,  on  the  occasion  which 
Naunton  describes.  'Raleigh,'  he  says,  'had  gotten 
the  Queen's  ear  at  a  trice ;  and  she  began  to  be  taken 
with  his  elocution,  and  loved  to  hear  his  reasons  to  her 
demands;  and  the  truth  is,  she  took  him  for  a  kind 


At  Court  23 

of  oracle,  which  nettled  them  all/  Lord  Grey,  who 
was  no  diplomatist,  had  the  want  of  caution  to  show 
that  he  was  annoyed  at  advice  being  asked  from  a  young 
man  who  was  so  lately  his  inferior.  In  answer  to  a 
special  recommendation  of  Raleigh  from  the  Queen,  Lord 
Grey  ventured  to  reply :  ^  For  my  own  part  I  must  be 
plain — I  neither  like  his  carriage  nor  his  company,  and 
therefore  other  than  by  direction  and  commandment, 
and  what  his  right  requires,  he  is  not  to  expect  from 
my  hands.'  Lord  Grey  did  not  understand  the  man  he 
was  dealing  with.  The  result  was  that  in  August 
1582  he  was  abruptly  deposed  from  his  dignity  as  Lord 
Deputy  in  Ireland.  But  we  see  that  Raleigh  could  be 
exceedingly  antipathetic  to  any  man  who  crossed  his 
path.  That  it  was  wilful  arrogance,  and  not  inability  to 
please,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  he  seems  to  have  con- 
trived to  reconcile  not  Leicester  only  but  even  Hatton, 
Elizabeth's  dear  'Pecora  Campi,'  to  his  intrusion  at 
Court. 

As  far  as  we  can  perceive,  Raleigh's  success  as  a 
courtier  was  unclouded  from  1582  to  1586,  and  these 
years  are  the  most  peaceful  and  uneventful  in  the 
record  of  his  career.  He  took  a  confidential  place 
by  the  Queen's  side,  but  so  unobtrusively  that  in  these- 
earliest  years,  at  least,  his  presence  leaves  no  percep- 
tible mark  on  the  political  history  of  the  country. 
Great  in  so  many  fields,  eminent  as  a  soldier,  as  a 
navigator,  as  a  poet,  as  a  courtier,  there  was  a  limit 
even  to  Raleigh's  versatility,  and  he  was  not  a  states- 
man. It  was  political  ambition  which  was  the  vul- 
nerable spot  in  this  Achilles,  and  until  he  meddled 
with  statecraft,  his  position  was  practically  unassailed. 


24  Raleigh 

It  must  not  be  overlooked,  in  this  connection,  that  in 
spite  of  Raleigh's  influence  with  the  Queen,  he  never 
was  admitted  as  a  Privy  Councillor,  his  advice  being 
asked  in  private,  by  Elizabeth  or  by  her  ministers, 
and  not  across  the  table,  where  his  arrogant  manner 
might  have  introduced  discussions  fruitless  to  the  State. 
In  1598,  when  he  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  power,  he 
actually  succeeded,  as  we  shall  see,  in  being  proposed 
for  Privy  Council,  but  the  Queen  did  not  permit  him 
to  be  sworn.  Nothing  would  be  more  remarkable  than 
Elizabeth's  infatuation  for  her  favourites,  if  we  were 
not  still  more  surprised  at  her  skill  in  gauging  their 
capacities,  and  her  firmness  in  defining  their  ambi- 
tions. 

Already,  in  1583,  Walter  Raleigh  began  to  be  the 
recipient  of  the  Queen's  gifts.  On  April  10  of  that 
year  he  came  into  possession  of  two  estates,  Stolney 
and  Newland,  which  had  passed  to  the  Queen  from  All 
Souls  College,  Oxford.  A  few  days  later,  May  4, 
he  became  enriched  by  obtaining  letters  patent  for 
the  *■  FaiTQ  of  Wines,'  thenceforward  to  be  one  of  the 
main  sources  of  his  wealth.  According  to  this  grant, 
which  extended  to  all  places  within  the  kingdom, 
each  vintner  was  obliged  to  pay  twenty  shillings  a 
year  to  Raleigh  as  a  license  duty  on  the  sale  of  wines. 
This  was,  in  fact,  a  great  relief  to  the  wine  trade,  for 
until  this  time  the  mayors  of  corporations  had  levied 
this  duty  at  their  own  judgment,  and  some  of  them 
had  made  a  licensing  charge  not  less  than  six  times 
as  heavy  as  the  new  duty.  The  grant,  moreover,  gave 
Raleigh  a  part  of  all  fines  accruing  to  the  Crown 
under  the  provisions  of  the  wines  statute  of  Edward  VI. 


At  Court  25 

From  his  *  Farm  of  Wines  '  Raleigh  seems  at  one  time 
to  have  obtained  something  like  2,000Z.  a  year.  The 
emoluments  dwindled  at  last,  just  before  llaleigh  was 
forced  to  resign  his  patent  to  James  I.,  to  1,000Z.  a 
year  ;  but  even  this  was  an  income  equivalent  to  6,000Z. 
of  our  money.  The  grant  w^as  to  expire  in  1G19,  and 
would  therefore,  if  he  had  died  a  natural  death,  have 
outlived  Raleigh  himself.  We  must  not  forget  that 
the  cost  of  collecting  moneys,  and  the  salaries  to  deputy 
licensers,  consumed  a  large  part  of  these  receipts. 

While  Raleigh  was  shaking  down  a  fortune  from 
the  green  ivy-bushes  that  hung  at  the  vintners'  doors, 
the  western  continent,  at  which  he  had  already  cast 
wistful  glances,  remained  the  treasure-house  of  Spain. 
His  unfortunate  but  indomitable  half-brother,  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert,  recalled  it  to  his  memory.  The 
name  of  Gilbert  deserves  to  be  better  remembered  than 
it  is ;  and  America,  at  least,  will  one  day  be  constrained 
to  honour  the  memory  of  the  man  who  was  the  first  to 
dream  of  colonising  her  shores.  Until  his  time,  the 
ambition  of  Englishmen  in  the  west  had  been  confined 
to  an  angry  claim  to  contest  the  wealth  and  beauty  of 
the  New  World  with  the  Spaniard.  The  fabulous  mines 
of  Cusco,  the  plate-ships  of  Lima  and  Guayaquil,  the 
pearl-fisheries  of  Panama,  these  had  been  hitherto  the 
loadstar  of  English  enterprise.  The  hope  was  that  such 
feats  as  those  of  Drake  would  bring  about  a  time  when, 
as  George  Wither  put  it, 

the  spacious  West, 
Being  still  more  with  English  blood  possessed, 
The  proud  Iberians  shall  not  rule  those  seas, 
To  check  our  ships  from  saiHng  where  they  please. 


26  Raleigh 

Even  Frobisher  had  not  entertained  the  notion  of 
leaving  Spain  alone,  and  of  planting  in  the  northern 
hemisphere  colonies  of  English  race.  It  was  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Gilbert  who  first  thought  of  a  settlement  in 
North  America,  and  the  honour  of  priority  is  due  to 
him,  although  he  failed. 

His  royal  charter  was  dated  June  1578,  and  covered 
a  space  of  six  years  with  its  privilege.  "We  have 
already  seen  that  various  enterprises  undertaken  by 
Gilbert  in  consequence  of  it  had  failed  in  one  way  or 
another.  After  the  disaster  of  1579  he  desisted,  and 
lent  three  of  his  remaining  vessels  to  the  Government, 
to  serve  on  the  coast  of  Ireland.  As  late  as  July  1582 
the  rent  due  to  him  on  these  vessels  was  unpaid,  and 
he  wrote  a  dignified  appeal  to  Walsingham  for  the 
money  in  arrears.  He  was  only  forty-three,  but  his 
troubles  had  made  an  old  man  of  him,  and  he  pleads  his 
white  hairs,  blanched  in  long  service  of  her  Majesty,  as 
a  reason  why  the  means  of  continuing  to  serve  her 
should  not  be  withheld  from  him.  Raleigh  had  warmly 
recommended  his  brother  before  he  was  himself  in 
power,  and  he  now  used  all  his  influence  in  his  favour. 
It  is  plain  that  Gilbert's  application  was  promptly 
attended  to,  for  we  find  him  presently  in  a  position  to 
pursue  the  colonising  enterprises  which  lay  so  near  to 
his  heart.  The  Queen,  however,  could  not  be  induced 
to  encourage  him ;  she  shrewdly  remarked  that  Gilbert 
'  had  no  good  luck  at  sea,'  which  was  pathetically  true. 
However,  Gilbert's  six  years'  charter  was  about  to 
expire,  and  his  hopes  were  all  bound  up  in  making  one 
more  efibrt.  He  pleaded,  and  Raleigh  supported  him, 
until  Elizabeth  finally  gave  way,  merely  refusing  to  allow 


At  Court  27 

Raleigh  himself  to  take  part  iu  any  such  '  dangerous 
sea-fights '  as  the  crossing  of  the  Atlantic  might  entail. 

On  June  11,  1583,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  sailed 
from  Plymouth  with  a  little  fleet  of  five  vessels,  bound 
for  North  America.  According  to  all  authorities, 
Raleigh  had  expended  a  considerable  sum  in  the  outfit ; 
according  to  one  writer,  Hayes  (in  Hakluyt),  he  was 
owner  of  the  entire  expedition.  He  spent,  we  know, 
2,000?.  in  building  and  fitting  out  one  vessel,  which  he 
named  after  himself,  the  '  Ark  Raleigh.' 

Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  was  not  born  under  a  for- 
tunate star.  Two  days  after  starting,  a  contagious  fever 
broke  out  on  board  the  '  Ark  Raleigh,'  and  in  a  tumult 
of  panic,  without  explaining  her  desertion  to  the  admi- 
ral, .she  hastened  back  in  great  distress  to  Plymouth. 
The  rest  of  the  fleet  crossed  the  Atlantic  successfully, 
and  Newfoundland  was  taken  in  the  Queen's  name. 
One  ship  out  of  the  remaining  four  had  meanwhile  been 
sent  back  to  England  with  a  sick  crew.  Late  in 
September  1583  a  second  sailed  into  J^ly mouth  with  the 
news  that  the  other  two  had  sunk  in  an  Atlantic  storm 
on  the  8th  or  9th  of  that  month.  The  last  thing 
known  of  the  gallant  admiral  before  his  ship  went  down 
was  that  '  sitting  abaft  with  a  book  in  his  hand,'  he  had 
called  out  ^  Be  of  good  heart,  my  friends !  We  are  as 
near  to  heaven  by  sea  as  by  land.' 

At  the  death  of  Gilbert,  his  schemes  as  a  colonising 
navigator  passed,  as  by  inheritance,  to  Raleigh.  That 
he  had  no  intention  of  letting  them  drop  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  he  was  careful  not  to  allow  Gilbert's  original 
charter  to  expire.  In  June  1584  other  hands  might 
have  seized  his  brother's  relinquished  enterprise,  and 


28  Raleigh 

therefore  it  was,  on  March  25,  that  Raleigh  moved  the 
Queen  to  renew  the  charter  in  his  own  name.  In 
company  with  a  younger  half-brother,  Adrian  Gilbert, 
and  with  the  experienced  though  unlucky  navigator 
John  Davis  as  a  third  partner,  Raleigh  was  now  incorpo- 
rated as  representing  *  The  College  of  the  Fellowship  for 
the  Discovery  of  the  North  West  Passage/  In  this  he 
was  following  the  precedent  of  Gilbert,  who  had  made 
use  of  the  Queen's  favourite  dream  of  a  northern  route  to 
China  to  cover  his  less  attractive  schemes  of  colonisation. 
Raleigh,  however,  took  care  to  secure  himself  a  charter 
which  gave  him  the  fullest  possible  power  to  *  inhabit 
or  retain,  build  or  fortify,  at  the  discretion  of  the  said 
W.  Raleigh,'  in  any  remote  lands  that  he  might  find 
hitherto  unoccupied  by  any  Christian  power.  Armed 
with  this  extensive  grant,  Raleigh  began  to  make  his 
preparations. 

It  is  needful  here  to  pass  rapidly  over  the  chronicle 
of  the  expeditions  to  America,  since  they  form  no  part 
of  the  personal  history  of  Raleigh.  On  April  27  he 
sent  out  his  first  fleet  under  Amidas  and  Barlow.  They 
sailed  blindly  for  the  western  continent,  but  were 
guided  at  last  by  ^  a  delicate  sweet  smell '  far  out  in 
ocean  to  the  coast  of  Florida.  They  then  sailed  north, 
and  finally  landed  on  the  islands  of  Wokoken  and 
Roanoke,  which,  with  the  adjoining  mainland,  they 
annexed  in  the  name  of  her  Majesty.  In  September 
this  first  expedition  returned,  bringing  Raleigh,  as  a 
token  of  the  wealth  of  the  new  lands,  *  a  string  of  pearls 
as  large  as  great  peas.'  In  honour  of  'the  eternal 
Maiden  Queen,'  the  new  country  received  the  name  of 
Virginia,  and  Raleigh  ordered  his  own  arms  to  be  cut 


At  Court  29 

anew,  with  tliis  legend,  Propria  insignia  Walteri  Ralegh, 
militisj  Domini  et  Cruhematoris  Virginice.  No  attempt 
had  been  made  on  this  occasion  to  colonise.  It  was 
early  in  the  following  year  that  Raleigh  sent  out  his 
second  Virginian  expedition,  under  the  brave  Sir 
llichard  Grenville,  to  settle  in  the  country.  The  ex- 
periment was  not  completely  successful  at  first,  but 
from  August  17,  1585,  which  is  the  birthday  of  the 
American  people,  to  June  18,  1586,  one  hundred  and 
eight  persons  under  the  command  of  Ralph  Lane,  and 
in  the  service  of  Raleigh,  made  Roanoke  their  habita- 
tion. It  is  true  that  the  colonists  lost  courage  and 
abandoned  Virginia  at  the  latter  date,  but  an  essay  at 
least  had  been  made  to  justify  the  sanguine  hopes  of 
Raleigh. 

These  expeditions  to  North  America  were  very 
costly,  and  by  their  very  nature  unremunerative  for  the 
present.  Raleigh,  however,  was  by  this  time  quite 
wealthy  enough  to  support  the  expense,  and  on  the 
second  occasion  accident  befriended  him.  Sir  Richard 
Grenville,  in  the  '  Tiger,'  fell  in  with  a  Spanish  plate- 
ship  on  his  return-voyage,  and  towed  into  Plymouth 
Harbour  a  prize  which  was  estimated  at  the  value  of 
50,000Z.  But  Raleigh  was,  indeed,  at  this  time  a 
veritable  Danae.  As  though  enough  gold  had  not  yet 
been  showered  upon  him,  the  Queen  presented  to  him, 
on  March  25, 1584,  a  grant  of  license  to  export  woollen 
broad-cloths,  a  privilege  the  'excessive  profits  of  which 
soon  attracted  the  critical  notice  of  Burghley.  Raleigh's 
grant,  however,  was  long  left  unassailed,  and  was  re- 
newed year  by  year  at  least  until  May  1589.  It  would 
seem  that  his  income  from  the  trade  in  undyed  broad- 
4 


30  Raleigh 

cloth  was  of  a  two-fold  nature,  a  fixed  duty  on  export- 
ation in  general,  and  a  charge  on  '  over-lengths,'  that  is 
to  say,  on  pieces  which  exceeded  the  maximum  length 
of  twenty-four  yards.  When  Burghley  assailed  this 
whole  system  of  taxation  in  1591,  he  stated  that  Raleigh 
had,  in  the  first  year  only  of  his  grant,  received  3,950L 
from  a  pri\dlege  for  which  he  paid  to  the  State  a  rent  of 
only  700Z.  If  this  was  correct,  and  no  one  could  be  in 
a  better  position  than  Burghley  to  check  the  figures, 
Raleigh's  income  from  broad-cloth  alone  was  something 
like  18,000L  of  Victorian  money. 

Such  were  the  sources  of  an  opulence  which  we  must  do 
Raleigh  the  credit  to  say  was  expended  not  on  debauchery 
or  display,  but  in  the  most  enlightened  efforts  to  extend 
the  field  of  English  commercial  enterprise  beyond  the 
Atlantic.  We  need  not  suppose  him  to  have  been  unselfish 
beyond  the  fashion  of  his  age.  In  his  action  there  was, 
no  doubt,  an  element  of  personal  ambition ;  he  dreamed 
of  raising  a  State  in  the  West  before  which  his  great 
enemy,  Spain,  should  sink  into  the  shade,  and  he 
fancied  himself  the  gorgeous  viceroy  of  such  a  kingdom. 
His  imagination,  which  had  led  him  on  so  bravely,  gulled 
him  sometimes  when  it  came  to  details.  His  sailors 
had  seen  the  light  of  sunset  on  the  cliffs  of  Roanoke, 
and  Raleigh  took  the  yellow  gleam  for  gold.  He  set 
his  faith  too  lightly  on  the  fabulous  ores  of  Chaunis 
Temotam.  But  he  was  not  the  slave  of  these  fancies,  as 
were  the  more  vulgar  adventurers  of  his  age.  More 
than  the  promise  of  pearls  and  silver,  it  was  the  homely 
products  of  the  new  country  that  attracted  him,  and 
his  captains  were  bidden  to  bring  news  to  him  of  the 
fish   and   fruit   of   Virginia,   its   salts   and    dyes   and 


At  Court  31 

textile  grasses.  Nor  was  it  a  goldsmith  that  he  sent 
out  to  the  new  colony  as  his  scientific  agent,  but  a 
young  mathematician  of  promise,  the  practical  and 
obseiTant  Thomas  Hariot. 

Some  personal  details  of  Raleigh's  private  life  during 
these  two  years  may  now  be  touched  upon.  He  was  in 
close  attendance  upon  the  Queen  at  Greenwich  and  at 
"Windsor,  when  he  was  not  in  his  own  house  in  the  still 
rural  village  of  Islington.  In  the  summer  of  1584, 
probably  in  consequence  of  the  new  wealth  his  broad- 
cloth patent  had  secured  him,  he  enlarged  his  borders  in 
several  ways.  He  leased  of  the  Queen,  Durham  House, 
close  to  the  river,  covering  the  site  of  the  present 
Adelphi  Terrace.  This  was  the  vast  fourteenth-century 
palace  of  the  Bishops  of  Durham,  which  had  come  into 
possession  of  the  Crown  late  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
Elizabeth  herself  had  occupied  it  during  the  lifetime  of 
her  brother,  and  she  had  recovered  it  again  after  the 
death  of  Mary.  Retaining  certain  rooms,  she  now  relin- 
quished it  to  her  favourite,  and  in  this  stately  mansion  as 
his  town  house  Raleigh  lived  from  1584  to  1603.  In 
spite  of  his  uncertain  tenure,  he  spent  very  large  sums 
in  repairing  *  this  rotten  house,'  as  Lady  Raleigh  after- 
wards called  it. 

Some  time  between  December  14,  1584,  and 
February  24,  1585,  Raleigh  was  knighted.  On  the 
latter  date  we  find  him  first  styled  Sir  Walter,  in  an 
order  from  Burghley  to  report  on  the  force  of  the 
Devonshire  Stannaries.  His  activities  were  now  con- 
centrated from  several  points  upon  the  West  of  England, 
and  he  became  once  more  identified  with  the  only  race 
that  ever  really  loved  him,  the  men  of  his  native  Devon- 


32  Raleigh 

sHre.  In  July  lie  succeeded  the  Earl  of  Bedford  as 
Lord  Warden  of  the  Stannaries ;  in  September  he  was 
appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  County  of  Cornwall ;  in 
November,  Vice- Admiral  of  the  two  counties.  He 
appointed  Lord  Beauchamp  his  deputy  in  Cornwall,  and 
his  own  eldest  half-brother,  Sir  John  Gilbert  of  Green- 
way,  his  deputy  in  Devonshire.  In  the  same  year, 
1585,  he  entered  Parliament  as  one  of  the  two  county 
members  for  Devonshire.  As  Warden  of  the  Stannaries 
he  introduced  reforms  which  greatly  mitigated  the 
hardships  of  the  miners. 

It  is  pleasanter  to  think  of  Raleigh  administering 
rough  justice  from  the  granite  judgment-seat  on  some 
windy  tor  of  Dartmoor,  than  to  picture  him  squabbling 
for  rooms  at  Court  with  'Pecora  Campi,'  or  ogling  a 
captious  royal  beauty  of  some  fifty  summers.  Raleigh's 
work  in  the  West  has  made  little  noise  in  history ;  but 
it  was  as  wholesome  and  capable  as  the  most  famous  of 
his  exploits. 

In  March,  1586,  Leicester  found  himself  in  disgrace 
with  Elizabeth,  and  so  openly  attributed  it  to  Raleigh 
that  the  Queen  ordered  Walsingham  to  deny  that  the 
latter  had  ceased  to  plead  for  his  former  patron.  Raleigh 
himself  sent  Leicester  a  band  of  Devonshire  miners  to 
serve  in  the  Netherlands,  and  comforted  him  at  the 
same  time  by  adding,  '  The  Queen  is  in  very  good  terms 
with  you,  and,  thanks  be  to  God,  well  pacified.  You  are 
again  her  "  Sweet  Robin.'"  It  seems  that  the  strange 
accusation  had  been  made  against  Raleigh  that  he 
desired  to  favour  Spain.  This  was  calculated  to  vex 
him  to  the  quick,  and  we  find  him  protesting  (March 
29, 1586)  :  ^  I  have  consumed  the  best  part  of  my  fortune, 


At  Court  33 

hating  the  tyrannous  prosperity  of  that  State,  and  it 
were  now  strange  and  monstrous  that  I  should  become 
an  enemy  to  my  country  and  conscience.'  Two  months 
later  he  was  threatened  with  the  loss  of  his  post  as 
Vice-Admiral  if  he  did  not  withdraw  a  fleet  he  had  fitted 
out  to  harass  the  Spaniards  in  the  Newfoundland  waters. 
About  the  same  time  he  strengthened  his  connection 
with  the  Leicester  faction  by  marrying  his  cousin, 
Barbara  Gamage,  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney's  younger  brother 
Robert.  This  lady  became  the  grandmotlier  of  Waller's 
Sacharissa.  The  collapse  of  the  Virginian  colony  was 
an  annoyance  in  the  summer  of  this  year,  but  it  was 
tempered  to  Raleigh  by  the  success  of  another  of  his 
enterprises,  his  fleet  in  the  Azores.  One  of  the  prizes 
brought  home  by  this  purely  piratical  expedition  was  a 
Spanish  colonial  governor  of  much  fame  and  dignity, 
Don  Pedro  Sarmiento.  Raleigh  demanded  a  ransom 
for  this  personage,  and  while  it  was  being  collected 
he  entertained  his  prisoner  sumptuously  in  Durham 
House. 

On  October  7,  1586,  Raleigh's  old  friend  Sir  Philip 
Sidney  closed  his  chivalrous  career  on  the  battle-field  at 
Zutphen.  Raleigh's  solemn  elegy  on  him  is  one  of  the 
finest  of  the  many  poems  which  that  sad  event  called 
forth.  It  blends  the  passion  of  personal  regret  with  the 
dignity  of  public  grief,  as  all  great  elegiacal  poems 
should.  One  stanza  might  be  inscribed  on  a  monument 
to  Sidney : 

England  cloth  hold  thy  limbs,  that  bred  the  same  ; 

Flanders  thy  valour,  where  it  last  was  tried  ; 

The  camp  thy  sorrow,  where  thy  body  died  ; 
Thy  friends  thy  want ;  the  world  thy  virtues'  fame. 


34  Raleigh 

This  elegy  appeared  with  the  rest  in  Astrophel  in 
1595 ;  but  it  had  already  been  printed,  in  1593,  in  the 
Phoenix  Nest,  and  as  early  as  1591  Sir  John  Harington 
quotes  it  as  Ealeigh's. 

It  was  not  till  the  following  spring  that  Raleigh 
took  possession  of  certain  vast  estates  in  Ireland.  The 
Queen  had  named  him  among  the  *  gentlemen-under- 
takers,' between  whom  the  escheated  lands  of  the  Earl 
of  Desmond  were  to  be  divided.  He  received  about 
forty-two  thousand  acres  in  the  counties  of  Cork,  Water- 
ford,  and  Tipperary,  and  he  set  about  repeopling  this 
desolate  region  with  his  usual  vigour  of  action.  He 
brought  settlers  over  from  the  West  of  England,  but 
these  men  were  not  supported  or  even  encouraged  at 
Dublin  Castle.  *  The  doting  Deputy,'  as  Raleigh  calls 
him,  treated  his  Devonshire  farmers  with  less  conside- 
ration than  the  Irish  kerns,  and  although  it  is  certain 
that  of  all  the  ^  undertakers '  Raleigh  was  the  one  who, 
after  his  lights,  tried  to  do  the  best  for  his  land,  his  ex- 
perience as  an  Irish  colonist  was  on  the  whole  dispiriting. 
By  far  the  richest  part  of  his  property  was  the  '  haven 
royal'  of  Youghal,  with  the  thickly-wooded  lands  on 
either  side  of  the  river  Blackwater.  He  is  scarcely  to 
be  forgiven  for  what  appears  to  have  been  the  wanton 
destruction  of  the  Geraldine  Friary  of  Youghal,  built  in 
1268,  which  his  men  pulled  down  and  bumed  while  he 
was  mayor  of  the  town  in  1587.  Raleigh's  Irish  resi- 
dences at  this  time  were  his  manor-house  in  Youofhal, 
which  still  remains,  and  Lismore  Castle,  which  he 
rented,  from  1587  onwards,  of  the  official  Archbishop 
of  Cashel,  Meiler  Magrath. 

We  have  now  reached  the  zenith  of  Raleigh's  per- 


At   Court  35 

sonal  success.  His  fame  was  to  proceed  far  beyond 
anything  that  he  had  yet  gained  or  deserved,  but  his 
mere  worldly  success  was  to  reach  no  further,  and  even 
from  this  moment  sensibly  to  decline.  Elizabeth  had 
showered  wealth  and  influence  upon  him,  although  she 
had  refrained,  at  her  most  doting  moments,  from  lifting 
him  up  to  the  lowest  step  in  the  ladder  of  aristocratic 
preferment.  But  although  her  favour  towards  Raleigh 
had  this  singular  limit,  and  although  she  kept  him 
rigidly  outside  the  pale  of  politics,  in  other  respects  her 
affection  had  been  lavish  in  the  extreme.  Without 
ceasing  to  hold  Hatton  and  Leicester  captive,  she  had 
now  for  five  years  given  Raleigh  the  chief  place  in  her 
heart.  But,  in  May  1587,  we  suddenly  find  him  in 
danger  of  being  dethroned  in  favour  of  a  boy  of  twenty, 
and  it  is  the  new  Earl  of  Essex,  with  his  petulant 
beauty,  who  ^  is,  at  cards,  or  one  game  or  another,  with 
her,  till  the  birds  sing  in  the  morning.'  The  remark- 
able scene  in  which  Essex  dared  to  demand  the  sacrifice 
of  Raleigh  as  the  price  of  his  own  devotion  is  best 
described  by  the  new  favourite  in  his  own  words. 
Raleigh  had  now  been  made  Captain  of  the  Guard,  and 
we  have  to  imagine  him  standing  at  the  door  in  his 
uniform  of  orange-tawny,  while  the  pert  and  pouting 
boy  is  half  declaiming,  half  whispering,  in  the  ear  of  the 
Queen,  whose  beating  heart  forgets  to  remind  her  that 
she  might  be  the  mother  of  one  of  her  lovers  and  the 
grandmother  of  the  other.     Essex  writes : 

I  told  her  that  what  she  did  was  only  to  please  that 
knave  Raleigh,  for  whose  sake  I  saw  she  would  both  grieve 
me  and  my  love,  and  disgrace  me  in  the  eye  of  the  world. 
From  thence  she  came  to  speak  of  Raleigh  ;  and  it  seemed 


$6  Raleigh 

she  could  not  well  endure  anything  to  be  spoken  against 
him  ;  and  taking  hold  of  my  word  '  disdain,'  she  said  there 
was  '  no  such  cause  why  I  should  disdain  him.'  This  speech 
did  trouble  me  so  much  that,  as  near  as  I  could,  I  did  de- 
scribe unto  her  what  he  had  been,  and  what  he  was  ...  I 
then  did  let  her  know,  whether  I  had  cause  to  disdain  his 
competition  of  love,  or  whether  I  could  have  comfort  to  give 
myself  over  to  the  service  of  a  mistress  which  was  in  awe 
of  such  a  man.  I  spake,  with  grief  and  choler,  as  much 
against  him  as  I  could  ;  and  I  think  he,  standing  at  the 
door,  might  very  well  hear  the  worst  that  I  spoke  of  him- 
self. In  that  end,  I  saw  she  was  resolved  to  defend  him, 
and  to  cross  me. 

It  was  probably  about  this  time,  and  owing  to  the 
instigation  of  Essex,  that  Tarleton,  the  comedian,  laid 
himself  open  to  banishment  from  Court  for  calling  out, 
while  Raleigh  was  playing  cards  with  Elizabeth,  '  See 
how  the  Knave  commands  the  Queen  ! '  Elizabeth  sup- 
ported her  old  favourite,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
these  attacks  made  their  impression  on  her  irritable 
temperament.  Meanwhile  Raleigh,  engaged  in  a  dozen 
different  enterprises,  and  eager  to  post  hither  and 
thither  over  land  and  sea,  was  probably  not  ill  dis- 
posed to  see  his  royal  mistress  diverted  from  a  too- 
absorbing  attention  to  himself. 

On  May  8,  1587,  Raleigh  sent  forth  from  Plymouth 
his  fourth  Virginian  expedition,  under  Captain  John 
White.  It  was  found  that  the  second  colony,  the 
handful  of  men  left  behind  by  Sir  Richard  Grenville, 
had  perished.  With  150  men,  White  landed  at  Hato- 
rask,  and  proposed  to  found  a  town  of  Raleigh  in  the 
new  country.  Every  species  of  disaster  attended  this 
third  colony,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  excitement  caused 
the  following  year   by  the   Spanish   Armada,  a   fifth 


At  Court  37 

expedition,  fitted  out  under  Sir  Richard  Grenville,  was 
stopped  by  the  Government  at  Bideford.  Raleigh  was 
not  easily  daunted,  however,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
preparations  for  the  great  struggle  he  contrived  to 
send  out  two  pinnaces  from  Bideford,  on  April  22, 
1588,  for  the  succour  of  his  unfortunate  Virginians ; 
but  these  little  vessels  were  ignominiously  stripped 
off  Madeira  by  privateers  from  La  Rochelle,  and  sent 
helpless  back  to  England.  Raleigh  had  now  spent 
more  than  forty  thousand  pounds  upon  the  barren 
colony  of  Virginia,  and,  finding  that  no  one  at  Court 
supported  his  hopes  in  that  direction,  he  began  to 
withdraw  a  little  from  a  contest  in  which  he  was  so 
heavily  handicapped.  In  the  next  chapter  we  shall 
touch  upon  the  modification  of  his  American  policy. 
He  had  failed  hitherto,  and  yet,  in  failing,  he  had 
already  secured  for  his  own  name  the  highest  place 
in  the  early  history  cf  Colonial  America. 

We  now  reach  that  famous  incident  in  English 
history  over  which  every  biographer  of  Raleigh  is 
tempted  to  linger,  the  ruin  of  Philip's  Felicissima 
Armada.  Within  the  limits  of  the  present  life  of  Sir 
Walter  it  is  impossible  to  tell  over  again  a  story  which 
is  among  the  most  thrilling  in  the  chronicles  of  the 
world,  but  in  which  Raleigh's  part  was  not  a  foremost 
one.  We  possess  no  letter  of  1588  in  which  he  refers 
to  the  fight. 

On  March  31,  he  had  been  one  of  the  nine  com- 
missioners who  met  to  consider  the  best  means  of 
resisting  invasion.  In  the  same  body  of  men  sat  two 
of  Raleigh's  captains,  Grenville  and  Ralph  Lane,  as 
well  as  his  old  opponent,  Lord  Grey.  Three  months 
before   this,    Raleigh    had   reported  to   the   Queen  on 


38  Raleigh 

tHe  state  of  tlie  counties  under  his  charge,  and  liis 
counsel  on  the  subject  had  been  taken.  That  he  was 
profoundly  excited  at  the  crisis  in  English  affairs  is 
proved  by  the  many  allusions  he  makes  to  the  Armada 
in  the  History  of  the  Wo7id.  It  is  on  the  whole 
surprising  that  he  was  not  called  to  take  a  more 
prominent  part  in  the  event.* 

It  is  believed  that  he  was  in  Ireland  when  the 
storm  actually  broke,  that  he  hastened  into  the  West 
of  England,  to  raise  levies  of  Cornish  and  Devonian 
miners,  and  that  he  then  proceeded  to  Portland,  of 
which,  among  his  many  offices,  he  was  now  governor, 
in  order  that  he  might  revise  and  complete  the  de- 
fences of  that  fortress.  Either  by  land  or  sea,  accord- 
ing to  conflicting  accounts,  he  then  hurried  back  to 
Plymouth,  and  joined  the  main  body  of  the  fleet  on 
July  23.  There  is  a  very  early  tradition  that  his 
advice  was  asked  by  the  Admiral,  Howard  of  Effingham, 
on  the  question  whether  it  would  be  wise  to  try  to 
board  the  Spanish  galleons.  The  Admiral  thought 
not,  but  was  almost  over-persuaded  by  younger  men, 
eager  for  distinction,  when  Raleigh  came   to   his   aid 


*  Mr.  J.  Cordy  Jeaffreson  has  communicated  to  me  the  following 
interesting  discovery,  which  he  has  made  in  examining  the 
Assembly  Books  of  the  borough  of  King's  Lynn,  in  Norfolk.  It 
appears  that  the  Mayor  was  paid  ten  pounds  •  in  respecte  he  did 
in  the  yere  of  his  maioraltie  [between  Michaelmas  1587  and 
Michaelmas  1588]  entertayn  Sir  Walter  Rawlye  knight  and  his 
companye  in  resortinge  hether  about  the  Queanes  aflfayrs ; '  the 
occasion  being,  it  would  seem,  the  furnishing  and  setting  forth  of  a 
ship  of  war  and  a  pinnace  as  the  contingent  from  Lynn  towards 
defence  against  the  Armada.  This  is  an  important  fact,  for  it  is 
the  only  definite  record  that  has  hitherto  reached  us  of  Ealeigh's 
activity  in  guarding  the  coast  against  invasion. 


At  Court 


39 


with  counsel  that  tallied  with  the  Admiral's  judgment. 
In  the  Historij  of  the  World  Kaleigh  remarks  : 

To  clap  ships  together  without  any  consideration  belongs 
rather  to  a  madman  than  to  a  man  of  war.  By  such  an 
ignorant  bravery  was  Peter  Strozzi  lost  at  the  Azores,  when 
he  fought  against  the  Marquis  of  Santa  Cruz.  In  like  sort 
had  Lord  Charles  Howard,  Admiral  of  England,  been  lost 
in  the  year  1588,  if  he  had  not  been  better  advised  than  a 
great  many  malignant  fools  were  that  found  fault  with  his 
demeanour.  The  Spaniards  had  an  army  aboard  them,  and 
he  had  none.  They  had  more  ships  than  he  had,  and  of 
higher  building  and  charging  ;  so  that,  had  he  entangled 
himself  with  those  great  and  powerful  vessels,  he  had 
greatly  endangered  this  kingdom  of  England. 

Raleigh's  impression  of  the  whole  comedy  of  the 
Armada  is  summed  up  in  an  admirable  sentence  in 
his  Eejjort  of  the  Fight  in  the  Azores^  to  which  the 
reader  must  here  merely  be  referred.  His  ship  was 
one  of  those  which  pursued  the  lumbering  Spanish 
galleons  furthest  in  their  wild  flight  towards  the  Danish 
waters.  He  was  back  in  England,  however,  in  time  to 
receive  orders  on  August  28  to  prepare  a  fleet  for 
Ireland.  Whether  that  fleet  ever  started  or  no  is 
doubtful,  and  the  latest  incident  of  Raleigh's  connection 
with  the  Armada  is  that  on  September  5,  1588,  he 
and  Sir  Francis  Drake  received  an  equal  number  of 
wealthy  Spanish  prisoners,  whose  ransoms  were  to  be 
the  reward  of  Drake's  and  of  Raleigh's  achievements. 
More  important  to  the  latter  was  the  fact  that  his  skill 
in  naval  tactics,  and  his  genius  for  rapid  action,  had 
very  favourably  impressed  the  Lord  Admiral,  who  hence- 
forward publicly  treated  him  as  a  recognised  authority 
in  these  matters. 


40  Raleigh 


CHAPTER  in. 

IN  DISGRACE. 

For  one  year  after  tlie  defeat  of  tlie  Spanish  Armada, 
Raleigh  resisted  with  success,  or  overlooked  with  equani- 
mity, the  determined  attacks  which  Essex  made  upon 
his  position  at  Court.  He  was  busy  with  great  schemes 
in  all  quarters  of  the  kingdom,  engaged  in  Devonshire, 
in  Ireland,  in  Virginia,  in  the  north-western  seas,  and 
to  his  virile  activity  the  jealousy  of  Essex  must  have 
seemed  like  the  buzzing  of  a  persistent  gnat.  The  insect 
could  sting,  however,  and  in  the  early  part  of  December 
1588,  Raleigh's  attention  was  forcibly  concentrated  on 
his  rival  by  the  fact  that  ^  my  Lord  of  Essex  '  had  sent 
him  a  challenge.  No  duel  was  fought,  and  the  Coun- 
cil did  its  best  to  bury  the  incident  *  in  silence,  that 
it  might  not  be  known  to  her  Majesty,  lest  it  might  in- 
jure the  Earl,'  from  which  it  will  appear  that  Raleigh's 
hold  upon  her  favour  was  still  assured. 

A  week  later  than  this  we  get  a  glance  for  a  moment 
at  one  or  two  of  the  leash  of  privateering  enterprises, 
all  of  them  a  little  under  the  rose,  in  which  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  was  in  these  years  engaged.  An  English  ship, 
the  '  Angel  Gabriel,'  complained  of  being  captured  and 
sacked  of  her  wines  by  Raleigh's  men  on  the  high  seas, 


In  Disgrace  41 

and  he  retorts  by  insinuating  that  she,  *  as  it  is  probable, 
has  served  the  King  of  Spain  in  his  Armada/  and  is 
therefore  fair  game.  So,  too,  with  the  four  butts  of  sack 
of  one  Artson,  and  the  sugar  and  mace  said  to  be  taken 
out  of  a  Hamburg  vessel,  their  capture  by  Raleigh's 
factors  is  comfortably  excused  on  the  ground  that  these 
acts  were  only  reprisals  against  the  villainous  Spaniard. 
It  was  well  that  these  more  or  less  commercial  under- 
takings should  be  successful,  for  it  became  more  and 
more  plain  to  Raleigh  that  the  most  grandiose  of  all  his 
enterprises,  his  determined  effort  to  colonise  Virginia, 
could  but  be  a  drain  upon  his  fortune.  After  Captain 
White's  final  disastrous  voyage,  Raleigh  suspended  his 
efforts  in  this  direction  for  a  while.  He  leased  his 
patent  in  Virginia  to  a  company  of  merchants,  on 
March  7,  1589,  merely  reserving  to  himself  a  nominal 
privilege,  namely  the  possession  of  one  fifth  of  such 
gold  and  silver  ore  as  should  be  raised  in  the  colony. 
This  was  the  end  of  the  first  act  of  Raleigh's  American 
adventures.  It  may  not  be  needless  to  contradict  here 
a  statement  repeated  in  most  rapid  sketches  of  his  life. 
It  is  not  true  that  at  any  time  Raleigh  himself  set  foot 
in  Virginia. 

In  the  Portugal  expedition  of  1589  Raleigh  does 
not  seem  to  have  taken  at  all  a  prominent  part.  He 
was  absent,  however,  with  Drake's  fleet  from  April  18 
to  July  2,  and  he  marched  with  the  rest  up  to  the  walls 
of  Lisbon.  This  enterprise  was  an  attempt  on  the  part 
of  Elizabeth  to  place  Antonio  again  on  the  throne  of 
Portugal,  from  which  he  had  been  ousted  by  Philip  of 
Spain  in  1580.  The  aim  of  the  expedition  was  not 
reached,  but  a  great  deal  of  booty  fell  into  the  hands  of 
5 


42  Raleigh 

the  English,  and  Raleigh  in  particular  received  4,000Z. 
His  contingent,  however,  had  been  a  little  too  zealous, 
and  he  received  a  rather  sharp  reprimand  for  capturing 
two  barks  from  Cherbourg  belonging  to  the  friendly 
power  of  France.  It  must  be  understood  that  Raleigh 
at  this  time  maintained  at  his  own  expense  a  small 
personal  fleet  for  commercial  and  privateering  ends, 
and  that  he  lent  or  leased  these  vessels,  with  his  own 
services,  to  the  government  when  additional  naval  con- 
tributions were  required.  In  the  Domestic  Correspon- 
dence we  meet  with  the  names  of  the  chief  of  these 
vessels,  '  The  Revenge,'  soon  afterwards  so  famous,  *  The 
Crane,'  and  '  The  Garland.'  These  ships  were  merchant- 
men or  men-of-war  at  will,  and  their  exploits  were 
winked  at  or  frowned  upon  at  Court  as  circumstances 
dictated.  Sometimes  the  hawk's  eye  of  Elizabeth  would 
sound  the  holds  of  these  pirates  with  incredible  acumen, 
as  on  that  occasion  when  it  is  recorded  that  *  a  waistcoat 
of  carnation  colour,  curiously  embroidered,'  which  was 
being  brought  home  to  adorn  the  person  of  the  adven- 
turer, was  seized  by  order  of  the  Queen  to  form  a 
stomacher  for  his  royal  mistress.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  say  which  of  the  illustrious  pair  was  the  more 
solicitous  of  fine  raiment.  At  other  times  the  whole 
prize  had  to  be  disgorged ;  as  in  the  case  of  that 
bark  of  Olonne,  laden  with  barley,  which  Raleigh  had  to 
restore  to  the  Treasury  on  July  21,  1589,  after  he  had 
concluded  a  very  lucrative  sale  of  the  same. 

In  August  1589  Sir  Francis  Allen  wrote  to  Anthony 
Bacon  :  '  My  Lord  of  Essex  hath  chased  Mr.  Raleigh 
from  the  Court,  and  hath  confined  him  to  Ireland.'  It 
is  true  that  Raleigh  himself,  five  months  later,  being 


In  Disgrace  43 

once  more  restored  to  favour,  speaks  of  *  that  nearness  to 
her  Majesty  which  I  still  enjoy/  and  directly  contradicts 
the  rumour  of  his  disgrace.  This,  however,  is  not  in 
accordance  with  the  statement  made  by  Spenser  in  his 
poem  of  Colin  Clout's  come  home  again,  in  which  he  says 
that  all  Raleigh's  speech  at  this  time  was 

Of  great  unkindness  and  of  usage  hard 
Of  Cynthia,  the  Lady  of  the  Sea, 
Which  from  her  presence  faultless  him  debarred, 

and  this  may  probably  be  considered  as  final  evidence. 
At  all  events,  this  exile  from  Court,  whether  it  was 
enforced  or  voluntary,  brought  about  perhaps  the  most 
pleasing  and  stimulating  episode  in  the  whole  of 
Raleigh's  career,  his  association  with  the  great  poet 
whose  lines  have  just  been  quoted. 

We  have  already  seen  that,  eight  years  before  this, 
Spenser  and  Raleigh  had  met  under  Lord  Grey  in  the 
expedition  that  found  its  crisis  at  Smerwick.  We  have 
no  evidence  of  the  point  of  intimacy  which  they  reached 
in  1582,  nor  of  their  further  acquaintance  before  1589. 
It  has  been  thought  that  Raleigh's  picturesque  and  vivid 
personality  immediately  and  directly  influenced  Spenser's 
imagination.  Dean  Church  has  noticed  that  to  read 
Hooker's  account  of  '  Raleigh's  adventures  with  the 
Irish  chieftains,  his  challenges  and  single  combats,  his 
escapes  at  fords  and  woods,  is  like  reading  bits  of  the 
Faery  Queen  in  prose.'  The  two  men,  in  many  respects 
the  most  remarkable  Englishmen  of  imagination  then 
before  the  notice  of  their  country,  did  not,  however, 
really  come  into  mutual  relation  until  the  time  we  have 
now  reached. 


44  Raleigh 

In  1586  Edmund  Spenser  had  been  rewarded  for 
his  arduous  services  as  Clerk  of  the  Council  of  Munster 
by  the  gift  of  a  manor  and  ruined  castle  of  the  Desmonds, 
Kilcolman,  near  the  Galtee  hills.  This  little  peel-tower, 
with  its  tiny  rooms,  overlooked  a  county  that  is  desolate 
enough  now,  but  which  then  was  finely  wooded,  and 
watered  by  the  river  Awbeg,  to  which  the  poet  gave  the 
softer  name  of  Mulla.  Here,  in  the  midst  of  terrors 
by  night  and  day,  at  the  edge  of  the  dreadful  Wood, 
where  *  outlaws  fell  affray  the  forest  ranger,'  Spenser 
had  been  settled  for  three  years,  describing  the  adven- 
tures of  knights  and  ladies  in  a  wild  world  of  faery 
that  was  but  too  like  Munster,  when  the  Shepherd  of 
the  Ocean  came  over  to  Ireland  to  be  his  neighbour. 
Raleigh  settled  himself  in  his  own  house  at  Youghal, 
and  found  society  in  visiting  his  cousin.  Sir  George 
Carew,  at  Lismore,  and  Spenser  at  Kilcolman.  Of  the 
latter  association  we  possess  a  most  interesting  record. 
In  1591,  reviewing  the  life  of  two  years  before,  Spenser 


One  day  I  sat,  (as  was  my  trade), 

Under  the  foot  of  Mole,  that  mountain  hoar, 

Keeping  my  sheep  among  the  cooly  shade 
Of  the  green  alders,  by  the  Mulla's  shore  ; 

There  a  strange  shepherd  chanced  to  find  me  out ; 
Whether  allured  with  my  pipe's  delight, 

Whose  pleasing  sound  yshrilled  far  about, 

(the  secret  of  the  authorship  of  the  SliepherdJs  Calender 
having  by  this  time  oozed  out  in  the  praises  of  Webbe 
in  1586  and  of  Puttenham  in  1589,) 

Or  thither  led  by  chance,  I  know  not  right, — 


In  Disgrace  45 

Whom,  when  I  ask^d  from  what  place  he  came 
And  how  he  hight,  himself  he  did  ycleepe 

The  Shepherd  of  the  Ocean  by  name, 

And  said  he  came  far  from  the  main-sea  deep  ; 

He,  sitting  me  beside  in  that  same  shade, 
Provoked  me  to  play  some  pleasant  fit, 

(that  is  to  say,  to  read  the  MS.  of  the  'Faerij  Queeriy 
now  approaching  completion,) 

And,  when  he  heard  the  music  which  I  made, 
He  found  himself  full  greatly  pleased  at  it-; 

Yet  semuling  my  pipe,  he  took  in  hond 

My  pipe, — before  that,  semuled  of  many, — 

And  played  thereon  (for  well  that  skill  he  conned). 
Himself  as  skilful  in  that  art  as  any. 

Among  the  other  poems  thus  read  by  Ealeigh  to 
Spenser  at  Kilcolman  was  the  '  lamentable  lay '  to  which 
reference  had  just  been  made — the  piece  in  praise  of 
Elizabeth  which  bore  the  name  of  Cynthia.  In 
Spenser's  pastoral,  the  speaker  is  persuaded  by  Thestylis 
(Lodovick  Bryskett)  to  explain  what  ditty  that  was 
that  the  Shepherd  of  the  Ocean  sanff,  and  he  explains 
very  distinctly,  but  in  terms  which  are  scarcely  critical, 
that  Ealeigh's  poem  was  written  in  love  and  praise, 
but  also  in  pathetic  complaint,  of  Elizabeth,  that 

great  Shepherdess,  that  Cynthia  hight, 
His  Liege,  his  Lady,  and  his  life's  Regent. 

This  is  most  valuable  evidence  of  the  existence  in 
1589  of  a  poem  or  series  of  poems  by  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  set  by  Spenser  on  a  level  with  the  best  work 
of  the  age  in  verse.     This  poem  was,  until  quite  lately, 


46  Raleigh 

supposed  to  have  vanished  entirely  and  beyond  all  hope 
of  recovery.  Until  now,  no  one  seems  to  have  been 
aware  that  we  hold  in  our  hands  a  fragment  of  Raleigh's 
magnum  opus  of  1589  quite  considerable  enough  to  give 
us  an  idea  of  the  extent  and  character  of  the  rest.^ 

In  1870  Archdeacon  Hannah  printed  what  he  de- 
scribed as  a  *  continuation  of  the  lost  poem,  Cynthia^ 
from  fragments  in  Sir  Walter's  own  hand  among  the 
Hatfield  MSS.  Dr.  Hannah,  however,  misled  by  the 
character  of  the  handwriting,  by  some  vague  allusions, 
in  one  of  the  fragments,  to  a  prison  captivity,  and  most 
of  all,  probably,  by  a  difficulty  in  dates  which  we  can 
now  for  the  first  time  explain,  attributed  these  pieces  to 
1603-1618,  that  is  to  say  to  Raleigh's  imprisonment 
in  the  Tower.  The  second  fragment,  beginning  '  My 
body  in  the  walls  captived,'  belongs,  no  doubt,  to  the 
later  date.  It  is  in  a  totally  distinct  metre  from  the 
rest  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  Cynthia.  The  first 
fragment  bears  the  stamp  of  much  earlier  date,  but 
this  also  can  be  no  part  of  Raleigh's  epic.  The  long 
passage  then  following,  on  the  contrary,  is,  I  think, 
beyond  question,  a  canto,  almost  complete,  of  the  lost 
epic  of  1589.  It  is  written  in  the  four-line  heroic 
stanza  adopted  ten  years  later  by  Sir  John  Davies  for 
his  Nosce  teipsum^  and  most  familiar  to  us  all  in  Gray's 
Churcliyard  Elegy,  Moreover,  it  is  headed  '  the  Twenty- 
first  and  Last  Book  of  The  Ocean  to  Cynthia.^  Another 
note,  in  Raleigh's  handwriting,  styles  the  poem  The 
Oceans  Love  to  Cynthia,  and  this  was  probably  the  full 
name  of  it.    Spenser's  name  for  Raleigh,  the  Shepherd,  or 

*  In  the  first  two  numbers  of  the  Atherueum  for  1886,  I  gave  in 
full  detail  the  facts  and  arguments  which  are  here  given  in  summary. 


In  Disgrace  47 

pastoral  hero,  of  the  Ocean,  is  therefore  for  the  first 
time  explained.  This  twenty-first  book  suffers  from 
the  fact  that  stanzas,  but  apparently  not  very  many, 
have  dropped  out,  in  four  places.  With  these  losses, 
the  canto  still  contains  130  stanzas,  or  526  lines. 
Supposing  the  average  length  of  the  twenty  preceding 
books  to  have  been  the  same,  Tlie  Ocean's  Love  to 
Cynthia  must  have  contained  at  least  ten  thousand 
lines.  Spenser,  therefore,  was  not  exaggerating,  or 
using  the  language  of  flattery  towards  a  few  elegies  or 
a  group  of  sonnets,  when  he  spoke  of  Cynthia  as  a 
poem  of  great  importance.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  no 
poem  of  the  like  ambition  had  been  written  in  England 
for  a  century  past,  and  if  it  had  been  published,  it 
would  perhaps  have  taken  a  place  only  second  to  its 
immediate  contemporary.  The  Faery  Queen, 

At  this  very  time,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  poetical 
holiday,  Kaleigh  was  actively  engaged  in  defending  the 
rights  of  the  merchants  of  Waterford  and  Wexford  to 
carry  on  their  trade  in  pipe-staves  for  casks.  Raleigh 
himself  encouraged  and  took  part  in  this  exportation, 
having  two  ships  regularly  engaged  between  Waterford 
and  the  Canaries.  Traces  of  his  peaceful  work  in 
Munster  still  remain.    Sir  John  Pope  Hennessy  says  : 

The  richly  perfumed  yellow  wallflowers  that  he  brought 
to  Ireland  from  the  Azores,  and  the  Affane  cherry,  are  still 
found  where  he  first  planted  them  by  the  Blackwater. 
Some  cedars  he  brought  to  Cork  are  to  this  day  growing, 
according  to  the  local  historian,  Mr.  J.  G.  MacCarthy,  at 
a  place  called  Tivoli.  The  four  venerable  yew-trees,  whose 
branches  have  grown  and  intermingled  into  a  sort  of 
summer-house  thatch,  are  pointed  out  as  having  sheltered 


48  Raleigh 

Raleigh  when  he  first  smoked  tobacco  in  his  Youghal  garden. 

In  that  garden  he  also  planted  tobacco A  few  steps 

further  on,  where  the  town- wall  of  the  thirteenth  century 
bounds  the  garden  of  the  Warden's  house,  is  the  famous  spot 
where  the  first  Irish  potato  was  planted  by  him.  In  that 
garden  he  gave  the  tubers  to  the  ancestor  of  the  present 
Lord  Southwell,  by  whom  they  were  spread  throughout  the 
province  of  Munster. 

These  were  boons  to  mankind  which  the  zeal  of 
Raleigh's  agents  had  brought  back  from  across  the 
western  seas,  gifts  of  more  account  in  the  end  than  could 
be  contained  in  all  the  palaces  of  Manoa,  and  all  the 
emerald  mines  of  Trinidad,  if  only  this  great  man  could 
have  followed  his  better  instinct  and  believed  it. 

Raleigh's  habitual  difficulty  in  serving  under  other 
men  showed  itself  this  autumn  in  his  dispute  with  the 
Irish  Deputy,  Sir  William  Fitzwilliam,  and  led,  perhaps, 
to  his  return  early  in  the  winter.  We  do  not  know 
what  circumstances  led  to  his  being  taken  back  into 
Elizabeth's  favour  again,  but  it  was  probably  in  Novem- 
ber that  he  returned  to  England,  and  took  Spenser  with 
him.  Of  this  interesting  passage  in  his  life  we  find 
again  an  account  in  Colin  Cloufs  come  home  again. 
Spencer  says : 

When  thus  our  pipes  we  both  had  wearied  well, 

and  each  an  end  of  singing  made, 

He  [Raleigh]  gan  to  cast  great  liking  to  my  lore, 
And  great  disliking  to  my  luckless  lot ; 

and  advised  him  to  come  to  Court  and  be  presented  to 
<  Cynthia,' 

Whose  grace  was  great  and  boimty  most  rewardfuL 


In  Disgrace  49 

He  then  devotes  no  less  than  ninety-five  lines  to  a 
description  of  the  voyage,  which  was  a  very  rough  one, 
and  at  last  he  is  brought  by  Raleigh  into  the  Queen's 

presence : 

The  shepherd  of  the  ocean.  .  .  . 
Unto  that  goddess'  grace  me  first  enhanced, 

And  to  my  oaten  pipe  inclined  her  ear, 
That  she  thenceforth  therein  gan  take  delight, 
And  it  desired  at  timely  hours  to  hear, 

finally  commanding  the  publication  of  it.  On  December 
1,  1589,  the  Faery  Queen  was  registered,  and  a  pen- 
sion of  50L  secured  for  the  poet.  The  supplementary 
letter  and  sonnets  to  Raleigh  express  Spenser's  generous 
recognition  of  the  services  his  friend  had  performed  for 
him,  and  appeal  to  Raleigh,  as  '  the  Summer's  Night- 
ingale, thy  sovereign  goddess's  most  dear  delight,'  not 
to  delay  in  publishing  his  own  great  poem,  the  Cynthia. 
The  first  of  the  eulogistic  pieces  prefixed  by  friends  to 
the  Faery  Queen  was  that  noble  and  justly  celebrated 
sonnet  signed  W.  R.  which  alone  would  justify  Raleigh 
in  taking  a  place  among  the  English  poets. 

Raleigh's  position  was  once  more  secure  in  the  sun- 
light. He  could  hold  Sir  William  Fitzwilliam  informed, 
on  December  29,  that  '  I  take  myself  far  his  better  by 
the  honourable  office  I  hold,  as  well  as  by  that  nearness 
to  her  Majesty  which  still  I  enjoy,  and  never  more.* 
The  next  two  years  were  a  sort  of  breathing  space  in 
Raleigh's  career ;  he  had  reached  the  table-land  of  his 
fortunes,  and  neither  rose  nor  fell  in  favour.  The 
violent  crisis  of  the  Spanish  Armada  had  marked 
the  close  of  an  epoch  at  Court.  In  September 
1588  Leicester  died,  in  April   1590  Walsingham,  in 


50  Raleigh 

September  1591  Sir  Christoplier  Hatton,  three  men  in 
whose  presence,  however  apt  Raleigh  might  be  to 
vaunt  his  influence,  he  could  never  have  felt  absolutely 
master.  New  men  were  coming  on,  but  for  the  moment 
the  most  violent  and  aggressive  of  his  rivals,  Essex, 
was  disposed  to  wave  a  flag  of  truce.  Both  Raleigh 
and  Essex  saw  one  thing  more  clearly  than  the  Queen 
herself,  namely,  that  the  loyalty  of  the  Puritans,  whom 
Elizabeth  disliked,,  was  the  great  safeguard  of  the 
nation  against  Catholic  encroachment,  and  they  united 
their  forces  in  trying  to  protect  the  interests  of  men 
like  John  Udall  against  the  Queen's  turbulent  pre- 
judices. In  March  1591  we  find  it  absolutely  recorded 
that  the  Earl  of  Essex  and  Raleigh  have  joined  '  as 
instruments  from  the  Puritans  to  the  Queen  upon  any 
particular  occasion  of  relieving  them.*  With  Essex, 
some  sort  of  genuine  Protestant  fervour  seems  to  have 
acted ;  Raleigh,  according  to  all  evidence,  was  a  man 
without  religious  interests,  but  far  before  his  age  in 
tolerance  for  the  opinions  of  others,  and  he  was  swayed, 
no  doubt,  in  this  as  in  other  cases,  by  his  dislike  of 
persecution  on  the  one  hand,  and  his  implacable  enmity 
to  Spain  on  the  other. 

In  May  1591,  Raleigh  was  hurriedly  sent  down  the 
Channel  in  a  pinnace  to  warn  Lord  Thomas  Howard 
that  Spanish  ships  had  been  seen  near  the  Scilly  Islands. 
There  was  a  project  for  sending  a  fleet  of  twenty  ships 
to  Spain,  and  Raleigh  was  to  be  second  in  command, 
but  the  scheme  was  altered.  In  November  1591  he 
first  came  before  the  public  as  an  author  with  a  tract 
in  which  he  celebrated  the  prowess  of  one  of  his  best 
friends  and  truest  servants,  Sir  Richard  Grenville,  in  a 


In  Disgrace  51 

contest  witli  the  Spaniard  which  is  one  of  the  most 
famous  in  Engh'sh  history.  Raleigh's  little  volume 
is  entitled :  A  Rei^ort  of  the  Truth  of  the  Fight  about 
the  lies  of  the  Azores  this  last  Sommer  betwixt  the 
*  ReuG7ige '  and  an  Armada  of  the  King  of  Spaine.  The 
fight  had  taken  place  on  the  preceding  10th  of  Sep- 
tember ;  the  odds  against  the  '  Revenge '  were  so 
excessive  that  Grenville  was  freely  blamed  for  needless 
foolhardiness,  in  facing  15,000  Spaniards  with  only  100 
men.  Raleigh  wrote  his  Report  to  justify  the  memory 
of  his  friend,  and  doubtless  hastened  its  publication 
that  it  might  be  received  as  evidence  before  Sir  R. 
Beville's  commission,  which  was  to  meet  a  month  later 
to  inquire  into  the  circumstances  of  Grenville's  death. 
Posterity  has  taken  Raleigh's  view,  and  all  Englishmen, 
from  Lord  Bacon  to  Lord  Tennyson,  have  united  in 
praising  this  fight  as  one  'memorable  even  beyond 
credit,  and  to  the  height  of  some  heroical  fable.' 

The  Report  of  1591  was  anonymous,  and  it  was 
Hakluyt  first  who,  in  reprinting  it  in  1599,  was  per- 
mitted to  state  that  it  was  '  penned  by  the  honourable 
Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  knight.'  Long  entirely  neglected, 
it  has  of  late  become  the  best  known  of  all  its  author's 
productions.  It  is  written  in  a  sane  and  manly  style, 
and  marks  the  highest  level  reached  by  English  nar- 
rative prose  as  it  existed  before  the  waters  were 
troubled  by  the  fashion  of  Euphues.  Not  issued  with 
Raleigh's  name,  it  was  yet  no  doubt  at  once  recognised 
as  his  work,  and  it  cannot  have  been  without  influence 
in  determining  the  policy  of  the  country  with  Spain. 
The  author's  enmity  to  the  Spaniard  is  inveterate,  and 
he  is  careful  in  an  eloquent  introduction  to  prove  that 


52  Raleigh 

lie  is  not  actuated  by  resentment  on  account  of  this  one 
act  of  cruel  cowardice,  but  by  a  divine  anger,  justified 
by  the  events  of  years,  ^  against  the  ambitious  and 
bloody  pretences  of  the  Spaniard,  who,  seeking  to 
devour  all  nations,  shall  be  themselves  devoured.'  The 
tract  closes  with  a  passionate  appeal  to  the  loyalty  of  the 
English  Catholics,  who  are  warned  by  the  sufierings  of 
Portugal  that  '  the  obedience  even  of  the  Turk  is  easy 
and  a  liberty,  in  respect  of  the  slavery  and  tyranny  of 
Spain,'  and  who  will  never  be  so  safe  as  when  they  are 
trusting  in  the  clemency  of  her  Majesty.  All  this  is  in 
the  highest  degree  characteristic  of  Raleigh,  whose 
central  idea  in  life  was  not  prejudice  against  the 
Catholic  religion,  for  he  was  singularly  broad  in  this 
respect,  but,  in  his  own  words,  '  hatred  of  the  tyrannous 
prosperity  of  Spain.'  This  ran  like  a  red  strand 
through  his  whole  career  from  Smerwick  to  the  block, 
and  this  was  at  once  the  measure  of  his  greatness  and 
the  secret  of  his  fall. 

It  was  formerly  supposed  that  Raleigh  came  into 
possession  of  Sherborne,  his  favourite  country  residence, 
in  1594,  that  is  to  say  after  the  Throckmorton  incident. 
It  is,  however,  in  the  highest  degree  improbable  that 
such  an  estate  would  be  given  to  him  after  his  fatal 
offence,  and  in  fact  it  is  now  certain  that  the  lease  was 
extended  to  him  much  earlier,  probably  in  October  1591. 
There  is  a  pleasant  legend  that  Raleigh  and  one  of  his 
half-brothers  were  riding  up  to  town  from  Plymouth, 
when  Raleigh's  horse  stumbled  and  threw  him  within 
the  precincts  of  a  beautiful  Dorsetshire  estate,  then  in 
possession  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Salisbury,  and 
that  Raleigh,  choosing  to  consider  that  he  had  thus 


In  Disgrace  53 

taken  seisin  of  the  soil,  asked  the  Queen  for  Sherborne 
Castle  when  he  arrived  at  Court.  It  may  have  been  on 
this  occasion  that  Elizabeth  asked  him  when  he  would 
cease  to  be  a  beggar,  and  received  the  reply, '  When  your 
Majesty  ceases  to  be  a  benefactor ! '  His  first  lease 
included  a  payment  of  260Z.  a  year  to  the  Bishop  of 
Salisbury,  who  asserted  a  claim  to  the  property.  In 
January  1592,  after  the  payment  of  a  quarter's  rent, 
Kaleigh  was  confirmed  in  possession,  and  began  to  im- 
prove and  enjoy  the  property.  It  consisted  of  the 
manor  of  Sherborne,  with  a  large  park,  a  castle  which 
had  to  be  repaired,  and  several  farms  and  hamlets, 
together  with  a  street  in  the  borough  of  Sherborne 
itself.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Ealeigh  had  to  present 
the  Queen  with  a  jewel  worth  250?.  to  induce  her  '  to 
make  the  Bishop,'  that  is  to  say,  to  appoint  to  the  see  of 
Salisbury,  now  vacant,  a  man  who  would  consent  to  the 
alienation  of  such  rich  Church  lands  as  the  manors  of 
Sherborne  and  Yetminster.  John  Meeres,  afterwards  so 
determined  and  exasperating  an  enemy  of  Ealeigh's,  was 
now  ^  appointed  his  bailiff,  and  Adrian  Gilbert  a  sort  of 
general  overseer  of  the  works. 

Raleigh  had  been  but  two  months  settled  in  posses- 
sion of  Sherborne,  with  his  ninety-nine  years'  lease 
'clearly  made  out,  when  he  passed  suddenly  out  of  the 
sunlight  into  the  deepest  shadow  of  approaching  dis- 
favour. The  year  opened  with  promise  of  greater  ac- 
tivity and  higher  public  honours  than  Raleigh  had  yet 
displayed  and  enjoyed.      An  expedition  was  to  be  sent 

^  Kaleigh  says  that  he  appointed  this  man,  '  taking  him  out  of 
prison,  because  he  had  all  the  ancient  records  of  Sherborne,  his 
father  having  been  the  Bishop's  officer.' — De  la  Warr  MSS. 

6 


54  Raleigh 

to  capture  the  ricli  fleet  of  plate-sliips,  known  as  the 
Indian  Carracks,  and  then  to  push  on  to  storm  the  pearl 
treasuries  of  Panama.  For  the  first  time,  Elizabeth 
had  shown  herself  willing  to  trust  her  favourite  in 
person  on  the  perilous  western  seas.  Raleigh  was  to 
command  the  fleet  of  fifteen  sliips,  and  under  him  was 
to  serve  the  morose  hero  of  Cathay,  the  dreadful  Sir 
Martin  Frobisher.  Raleigh  was  not  only  to  be  admiral 
of  the  expedition,  but  its  chief  adventurer  also,  and  in 
order  to  bear  this  expense  he  had  collected  his  available 
fortune  from  various  quarters,  stripping  himself  of  all 
immediate  resources.  To  help  him,  the  Queen  had 
bought  The  Ark  Raleigh,  his  largest  ship,  for  5,000Z. ; 
and  in  February  1592  he  was  ready  to  sail.  When 
the  moment  for  parting  came,  however,  the  Queen  found 
it  impossible  to  spare  him,  and  Sir  John  Burrough  was 
appointed  admiral. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  move  with  confidence 
in  this  obscure  part  of  our  narrative.  On  March  10, 
1592,  we  find  Raleigh  at  Chatham,  busy  about  the  wages 
of  the  sailors,  and  trying  to  persuade  them  to  serve 
under  Frobisher,  whose  reputation  for  severity  made  him 
very  unpopular.  He  writes  on  that  day  to  Sir  Robert 
Cecil,  and  uses  these  ambiguous  expressions  with  regard 
to  a  rumour  of  which  we  now  hear  for  the  first  time ; 

I  mean  not  to  come  away,  as  they  say  I  will,  for  fear  of 
a  marriage,  and  I  know  not  what.  If  any  such  thing  were, 
I  would  have  imparted  it  to  yourself,  before  any  man  living  ; 
and  therefore,  I  pray,  believe  it  not,  and  I  beseech  you  to 
suppress,  what  you  can,  any  such  malicious  report.  For  I 
protest  before  God,  there  is  none,  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
that  I  would  be  fastened  unto. 


In  Disgrace  55 

Raleigh  was  now  in  a  desperate  embarrassment. 
There  was  that  concealed  in  his  private  life  which  could 
only  be  condoned  by  absence  ;  he  had  seen  before  him 
an  unexpected  chance  of  escape  from  England,  and  now 
the  Queen's  tedious  fondness  had  closed  it  again.  The 
desperate  fault  which  he  had  committed  was  that  he  had 
loved  too  well  and  not  at  all  wisely  a  beautiful  orphan, 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  Nicholas  Throckmorton,  a 
maid  of  honour  to  the  Queen.  It  is  supposed  that  she 
was  two  or  three  and  twenty  at  the  time.  Whether 
he  seduced  her,  and  married  her  after  his  imprisonment 
in  the  Tower,  or  whether  in  the  early  months  of  1592 
there  was  a  private  marriage,  has  been  doubted.  The 
biographers  of  Raleigh  have  preferred  to  believe  the 
latter,  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  his  fair  fame  in  this 
matter  cannot  be  maintained  unsullied.  Among  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh's  children  one  daughter  appears  to  have 
been  illegitimate,  '  my  poor  daughter,  to  whom  I  have 
given  nothing,  for  his  sake  who  will  be  cruel  to  himself 
to  preserve  thee,'  as  he  says  to  Lady  Raleigh  in  1603, 
and  it  may  be  that  it  was  the  birth  of  this  child  which 
brought  down  the  vengeance  .of  Queen  Elizabeth  upon 
their  heads. 

His  clandestine  relations  with  Elizabeth  Throck- 
morton were  not  in  themselves  without  excuse.  To  be 
the  favourite  of  Elizabeth,  who  had  now  herself  attained 
the  sixtieth  summer  of  her  immortal  charms,  was 
tantamount  to  a  condemnation  to  celibacy.  The  vanity 
of  Belphoebe  would  admit  no  rival  among  high  or  low, 
and  the  least  divergence  from  the  devotion  justly  due  to 
her  own  imperial  loveliness  was  a  mortal  sin.  What  is 
less  easy  to  forgive  in  Raleigh  than  that  at  the  age  of 


56  Raleigh 

forty  he  should  have  rebelled  at  last  against  this  tyranny, 
is  that  he  seems,  in  the  crisis  of  his  embarrassment,  to 
have  abandoned  the  woman  to  whom  he  could  "svrite 
long  afterwards,  '  I  chose  you  and  I  loved  you  in  my 
happiest  times.'  After  this  brief  dereliction,  however, 
he  returned  to  his  duty,  and  for  the  rest  of  his  life  was 
eminently  faithful  to  the  wife  whom  he  had  taken  under 
such  painful  circumstances. 

There  is  a  lacuna  in  the  evidence  as  to  what 
actually  happened  early  in  1592  ;  the  late  Mr.  J.  P. 
Collier  filled  up  this  gap  with  a  convenient  letter,  which 
has  found  its  way  into  the  histories  of  Raleigh,  but 
the  original  of  which  has  never  been  seen  by  other  eyes 
than  the  transcriber's.  What  is  certain  is  that  Raleigh 
contrived  to  conceal  the  state  of  things  from  the  Queen, 
and  to  steal  away  to  sea  on  the  pretext  that  he  was 
merely  accompanying  Sir  Martin  Frobisher  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Channel.  He  says  himself  that  on  May 
13,  1592,  he  was  ^  about  forty  leagues  off  the  Cape 
Finisterre.'  It  was  reported  that  the  Queen  sent  a  ship 
after  him  to  insist  on  his  return,  but  such  a  messenger 
would  have  had  little  chance  of  finding  him  when  once 
he  had  reached  the  latitude  of  Portugal,  and  it  is  more 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  after  straying  away  as  far  as 
he  dared,  he  came  back  again  of  his  own  accord.  On 
June  8  he  was  still  living  unmolested  in  Durham 
House,  and  dealing,  as  a  person  in  authority,  with 
certain  questions  of  international  navigation.  Three 
weeks  later  the  Queen  seems  to  have  discovered,  what 
everyone  about  her  knew  already,  the  nature  of 
Raleigh's  relations  with  Elizabeth  Throckmorton.  On 
July  28  Sir  Edward  Stafford  wrote  to  Anthony  Bacon ; 


In  Disgrace  57 

*  If  you  have  anything  to  do  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
or  any  love  to  make  to  Mrs.  Throckmorton,  at  the  Tower 
to-morrow  you  may  speak  with  them.'  It  was  four 
years  before  Raleigh  was  admitted  again  to  the  presence 
of  his  enraged  Belphoebe. 

Needless  prominence  has  been  given  to  this  im- 
prisonment of  Raleigh's,  which  lasted  something  less  than 
two  months.  He  was  exceedingly  restive  under  con- 
straint, however,  and  filled  the  air  with  the  picturesque 
clamour  of  his  distress.  His  first  idea  was  to  soften 
the  Queen's  heart  by  outrageous  protestations  of  anxious 
devotion  to  her  person.  The  following  passage  from  a 
letter  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil  is  remarkable  in  many  ways, 
curious  as  an  example  of  afiected  passion  in  a  soldier  of 
forty  for  a  maiden  of  sixty,  curious  as  a  piece  of  carefully 
modulated  Euphuistic  prose  in  the  fashion  of  the  hour, 
most  curious  as  the  language  of  a  man  from  whom  the 
one  woman  that  he  really  loved  was  divided  by  the  damp 
wall  of  a  prison  : 

My  heart  was  never  broken  till  this  day,  that  I  hear  the 
Queen  goes  away  so  far  off,  whom  I  have  followed  so  many 
years  with  so  great  love  and  desire,  in  so  many  journeys, 
and  am  now  left  behind  her,  in  a  dark  prison  all  alone. 
While  she  was  yet  nigher  at  hand,  that  I  might  hear  of  her 
once  in  two  or  three  days,  my  sorrows  were  the  less  ;  but 
even  now  my  heart  is  cast  into  the  depth  of  all  misery.  I 
that  was  wont  to  behold  her  riding  like  Alexander,  hunting 
like  Diana,  walking  like  Yenus,  the  gentle  wind  blowing 
her  fair  hair  about  her  pure  cheeks,  like  a  nymph ;  some- 
time sitting  in  the  shade  like  a  goddess  ;  sometime  singing 
like  an  angel ;  sometime  playing  like  Orpheus.  Behold  the 
sorrow  of  this  world  !  Once  amiss,  hath  bereaved  me  of  all. 
O  Glory,  that  only  shineth  in  misfortune,  what  is  become  of 


^8  Raleigh 

thy  assurance  ?  All  wounds  have  scars,  but  that  of  fantasy ; 
all  affections  their  relenting,  but  that  of  womankind. 
Who  is  the  judge  of  friendship,  but  adversity  ?  or  when  is 
grace  Witnessed,  but  in  offences  %  There  were  no  divinity, 
but  by  reason  of  compassion  for  revenges  are  brutish  and 
mortal.  All  those  times  past,  the  loves,  the  sights,  the 
sorrows,  the  desires,  can  they  not  weigh  down  one  frail  mis- 
fortune %  Cannot  one  drop  of  salt  be  hidden  in  so  great 
heaps  of  sweetness  %  I  may  then  conclude,  Spes  etfortuna, 
valete  !  She  is  gone  in  whom  I  trusted,  and  of  me  hath  not 
one  thought  of  mercy,  nor  any  respect  of  that  that  was.  Do 
with  me  now,  therefore,  what  you  list.  I  am  more  weary 
of  life  than  they  are  desirous  I  should  perish. 

He  kept  up  this  comedy  of  passion  with  wonderful 
energy.  One  day,  when  the  royal  barge,  passing  down 
to  Gravesend,  crossed  below  his  window,  he  raved  and 
stormed,  swearing  that  his  enemies  had  brought  the 
Queen  thither  *  to  break  his  gall  in  sunder  with 
Tantalus'  torment.'  Another  time  he  protested  that  he 
must  disguise  himself  as  a  boatman,  and  just  catch  a 
sight  of  the  Queen,  or  else  his  heart  would  break.  He 
drew  his  dagger  on  his  keeper,  Sir  George  Carew,  and 
broke  the  knuckles  of  Sir  Arthur  Gorges,  because  he 
said  they  were  restraining  him  from  the  sight  of  his 
Mistress.  He  proposed  to  Lord  Howard  of  Effingham 
at  the  close  of  a  business  letter,  that  he  should  be  thrown 
to  feed  the  lions,  ^  to  save  labour,'  as  the  Queen  was 
still  so  cruel.  Sir  Arthur  Gorges  was  in  despair ;  he 
thought  that  Raleigh  was  going  mad.  '  He  will  shortly 
grow,'  he  said,  '  to  be  Orlando  Furioso,  if  the  bright 
Angelica  persevere  against  him  a  little  longer.' 

It  was  all  a  farce,  of  course,  but  underneath  the 
fantastic  affectation  there  was  a  very  real  sentiment,  that 


In  Disgrace  59 

of  the  intolerable  tedium  of  captivity.  Raleigh  had 
been  living  a  life  of  exaggerated  activity,  never  a  month 
at  rest,  now  at  sea,  now  in  Devonshire,  now  at  Court, 
hurrying  hither  and  thither,  his  horse  and  he  one 
veritable  centaur.  Among  the  Euphuistic  Hears  of 
fancy '  which  he  sent  from  the  Tower,  there  occurs  this 
little  sentence,  breathing  the  most  complete  sincerity  : 

*  I  live  to  trouble  you  at  this  time,  being  become  like  a 
fish  cast  on  dry  land,  gasping  for  breath,  with  lame  legs 
and  lamer  lungs.'  There  was  no  man  then  in  England 
whom  it  was  more  cruel  to  shut  up  in  a  cage.  This 
reference  to  his  lungs  is  the  first  announcement  of  the 
failure  of  his  health.  Raleigh's  constitution  was  tough, 
but  he  had  a  variety  of  ailments,  and  a  tendency  to 
rheumatism  and  to  consumption  was  among  them.  In 
later  years  we  shall  find  that  the  damp  cells  of  the 
Tower  filled  his  joints  with  pain,  and  reduced  him  with 
a  weakening  cough.  But  long  before  his  main  im- 
prisonment his  joints  and  his  lungs  were  troublesome  to 
him. 

Meanwhile  the  great  privateering  expedition  in 
which  Raleigh  had  launched  his  fortune  was  proceeding 
to  its  destination  in  the  Azores.  No  such  enterprise 
had  been  as  yet  undertaken  by  English  adventurers. 
It  was  a  strictly  private  effort,  but  the  Queen  in  her 
personal  capacity  had  contributed  two  ships  and  1,800Z., 
and  the  citizens  of  London  6,000Z.,  but  Raleigh  retained 
by  far  the  largest  share.  Raleigh  had  been  a  week  in 
the  Tower,  when  Admiral  Sir  John  Burrough,  who  had 
divided  the  fleet  and  had  left  Frobisher  on  the  coast  of 
Spain,  joined  to  his  contingent  two  London  ships,  the 

*  Golden  Dragon '  and  the  '  Prudence/  and  lay  in  wait 


6o  Raleigh 

under  Flores  for  the  great  line  of  approaching  carracks. 
The  largest  of  these,  the  ^  Madre  de  Dios,'  was  the  most 
famous  plate-ship  of  the  day,  carrying  what  in  those  days 
seemed  almost  incredible,  no  less  than  1,800  tons. 
Her  cargo,  brought  through  Indian  seas  from  the  coast 
of  Malabar,  was  valued  when  she  started  at  500,000Z. 
She  was  lined  with  glowing  woven  carpets,  sarcenet 
quilts,  and  lengths  of  white  silk  and  Cyprus  ;  she  carried 
in  chests  of  sandalwood  and  ebony  such  store  of  rubies 
and  pearls,  such  porcelain  and  ivory  and  rock  crystal, 
such  great  pots  of  musk  and  planks  of  cinnamon,  as  had 
never  been  seen  on  all  the  stalls  of  London.  Her  hold 
smelt  like  a  garden  of  spices  for  all  the  benjamin  and 
cloves,  the  nutmegs  and  the  civet,  the  ambergris  and 
frankincense.  There  was  a  fight  before  Raleigh's  ship 
the  'Roebuck'  could  seize  this  enormous  prize,  yet 
somewhat  a  passive  one  on  the  part  of  the  lumbering 
carrack,  such  a  fight  as  may  ensue  between  a  great 
rabbit  and  the  little  stoat  that  sucks  its  life  out.  When 
she  was  entered,  it  was  found  that  pilferings  had  gone 
on  already  at  every  port  at  which  she  had  called ;  and 
the  English  sailors  had  done  their  share  before  Burrough 
could  arrive  on  board ;  the  jewels  and  the  lighter  spices 
were  badly  tampered  with,  but  in  the  general  rejoicing 
over  so  vast  a  prize  this  was  not  much  regarded. 
Through  seas  so  tempestuous  that  it  seemed  at  one  time 
likely  that  she  would  sink  in  the  Atlantic,  the  '  Madre 
de  Dios  '  was  at  last  safely  brought  into  Dartmouth,  on 
September  8. 

The  arrival  of  the  '  Madre  de  Dios '  on  the  Queen's 
birthday  had  something  like  the  importance  of  a 
national  event.     No  prize  of  such  value  had  ever  been 


In  Disgrace  6i 

captured  before.  When  all  deduction  had  been  made 
for  treasure  lost  or  pilfered  or  squandered,  there  yet 
remained  a  total  value  of  141,000Z.  in  the  money  of 
that  day.  The  fact  that  all  this  wealth  was  lying  in 
Dartmouth  harbour  was  more  than  the  tradesmen  of 
London  could  bear.  Before  the  Queen's  commissioners 
could  assemble,  half  the  usurers  and  shopkeepers  in  the 
City  had  hurried  down  into  Devonshire  to  try  and  gather 
up  a  few  of  the  golden  crumbs.  Raleigh,  meanwhile, 
was  ready  to  burst  his  heart  with  fretting  in  the  Tower, 
until  it  suddenly  appeared  that  this  very  concourse  and 
rabble  at  Dartmouth  would  render  his  release  impera- 
tive. No  one  but  he  could  cope  with  Devonshire  in  its 
excitement,  and  Lord  Burghley  determined  on  sending 
him  to  Dartmouth.  Robert  Cecil,  writing  from  Exeter 
to  his  father  on  September  19,  reported  that  for  seven 
miles  everybody  he  met  on  the  London  road  smelt  of 
amber  or  of  musk,  and  that  you  could  not  open  a  bag 
without  finding  seed-pearls  in  it.  *  My  Lord ! '  he  says, 
*  there  never  was  such  spoil.'  Raleigh's  presence  was 
absolutely  necessaiy,  for  Cecil  could  do  nothing  with 
the  desperate  and  obstinate  merchants  and  sailors. 

On  September  21,  Raleigh  arrived  at  Dartmouth 
with  his  keeper,  Blount.  Cecil  was  amazed  to  find  the 
disgraced  favourite  so  popular  in  Devonshire.  ^I  assure 
you,'  he  says,  ^  his  poor  servants  to  the  number  of  one 
hundred  and  forty,  goodly  men,  and  all  the  mariners, 
came  to  him  with  such  shouts  and  joy  as  I  never  saw  a 
man  more  troubled  to  quiet  them  in  my  life.  But  his 
heart  is  broken,  for  he  is  extremely  pensive  longer  than 
he  is  busied,  in  which  he  can  toil  terribly,  but  if  you 
did  hear  him  rage  at  the  spoils,  finding  all  the  short 


62  Raleigh 

wares  utterly  devoured,  you  would  laugli  as  I  do,  whicli 
I  cannot  choose.  The  meeting  between  him  and  Sir 
John  Gilbert  was  with  tears  on  Sir  John's  part ;  and 
he  belike  finding  it  known  he  had  a  keeper,  wherever 
he  is  saluted  with  congratulation  for  liberty,  he  doth 
answer,  "  No,  I  am  still  the  Queen  of  England's  poor 
captive."  I  wished  him  to  conceal  it,  because  here  it 
doth  diminish  his  credit,  which  I  do  vow  to  you  before 
God  is  greater  among  the  mariners  than  I  thought  for. 
I  do  grace  him  as  much  as  I  may,  for  I  find  him 
marvellously  greedy  to  do  anything  to  recover  the 
conceit  of  his  brutish  ofience.' 

Raleigh  broke  into  rage  at  finding  so  many  of  his 
treasures  lost,  and  he  gave  out  that  if  he  met  with  any 
London  jewellers  or  goldsmiths  in  Devonshire,  were  it 
on  the  wildest  heath  in  all  the  county,  he  would  strip 
them  as  naked  as  when  they  were  born.  He  raved 
against  the  commissioners  and  the  captains,  against 
Cecil  and  against  Cross.  As  was  his  wont,  he  showed 
no  tact  or  consideration  towards  those  who  were  engaged 
with  or  just  above  him ;  but  about  the  end  of  September 
business  cooled  his  wrath,  and  he  settled  down  to  a 
division  of  the  prize.  On  September  27,  the  Com- 
missioners of  Inquiry  sent  in  to  Burghley  and  Howard 
a  report  of  their  proceedings  with  respect  to  the '  Madre 
de  Dios ' ;  this  report  is  signed  by  Cecil,  Raleigh,  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  and  three  other  persons.  They  had  car- 
ried on  their  search  for  stolen  treasure  so  rigorously 
that  even  the  Admiral's  chests  were  examined  against 
his  will.  They  confess  their  disappointment  at  finding 
in  them  nothing  more  tempting  than  some  tafietas  em- 
broidered with  Chinese  gold,  and  a  bunch  of  seed-pearl. 


In  Disgrace  63 

Sir  Walter  Ealeigh  now  married  or  acknowledged 
Elizabetli  Throckmorton,  and  in  February  1593  Sir 
Robert  Cecil  procured  some  sort  of  surly  recognition 
of  the  marriage  from  the  Queen.  For  this  Lady  Raleigh 
thanks  him  in  a  strange  flowery  letter  ^  of  the  8th  of 
that  month,  in  which  she  excuses  her  husband  for  his 
denial  of  her — '  if  faith  were  broken  with  me,  I  was\ 
yet  far  away ' — and  shows  an  affectionate  solicitude  for  \ 
his  future.  It  seems  that  Raleigh's  first  idea  on  finding 
himself  free  was  to  depart  on  an  expedition  to  America, 
and  this  Lady  Raleigh  strongly  objects  to.  In  her 
alembicated  style  she  says  to  Cecil,  '  I  hope  for  my  sake 
you  will  rather  draw  for  Walter  towards  the  east  than 
help  him  forward  toward  the  sunset,  if  any  respect  to 
me  or  love  to  him  be  not  forgotten.  But  every  month 
hath  his  flower  and  every  season  his  contentment,  and 
you  great  councillors  are  so  full  of  new  councils,  as  you 
are  steady  in  nothing,  but  we  poor  souls  that  have 
bought  sorrow  at  a  high  price,  desire,  and  can  be  pleased 
with,  the  same  misfortune  we  hold,  fearing  alterations 
will  but  multiply  misery,  of  which  we  have  already  felt 
sufficient.'  The  poor  woman  had  her  way  for  the 
present,  and  for  two  full  years  her  husband  contented 
himself  with  a  quiet  and  obscure  life  among  the  woods 
of  Sherborne. 

For  the  next  year  we  get  scanty  traces  of  Raleigh's 
movements  from  his  own  letters.  In  May  1593  his 
health,  shaken  by  his  imprisonment,  gave  him  some 
uneasiness,  and  he  went  to  Bath  to  drink  the  waters, 
but  without  advantage.     In  August   of  that  year  we 

*  Mr.  Edwards  has  evidently  dated  this  important  letter  a  year 
too  late  (vol.  ii.  397-8). 


64  Raleigh 

find  him  busy  in  Gillingliam  Forest,  and  he  gives  Sir 
Kobert  Cecil  a  roan  gelding  in  exchange  for  a  rare 
Indian  falcon.  In  the  autumn  he  is  engaged  on  the 
south  coast  in  arranging  quarrels  between  English  and 
French  fishermen.  In  April  1594  he  captures  a  live 
Jesuit,  *  a  notable  stout  villain,'  with  all  '  his  copes  and 
bulls,' in  Lady  Stourton's  house,  which  was  a  very  warren 
of  dangerous  recusants.  But  he  soon  gets  tired  of  these 
small  activities.  The  sea  at  Weymouth  and  at  Ply- 
mouth put  out  its  arms  to  him  and  wooed  him.  To 
hunt  '  notable  Jesuit  knaves '  and  to  sit  on  the  granite 
judgment-seat  of  the  Stannaries  were  well,  but  life 
offered  more  than  this  to  Raleigh.  In  June  1594  he 
tells  Cecil  that  he  will  serve  the  Queen  as  a  poor  private 
mariner  or  soldier  if  he  may  only  be  allowed  to  be 
stirring  abroad,  and  the  following  month  there  is  a  stiU 
more  urgent  appeal  for  permission  to  go  with  the  Lord 
Admiral  to  Brittany.  He  has  a  quarrel  meanwhile  with 
the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Sarum,  who  have  let  his 
Sherborne  farms  over  his  head  to  one  Fitzjames,  and 
'  who  could  not  deal  with  me  worse  withal  if  I  were 
a  Turk.'  But  a  month  later  release  has  come.  The 
plague  has  broken  up  his  home,  his  wife  and  son  are 
sent  in  opposite  directions,  and  he  himself  has  leave  to 
be  free  at  last ;  with  God's  favour  and  the  Queen's  he 
wiU  sail  into  '  the  sunset '  that  Lady  Raleigh  had  feared 
so  much,  and  will  conquer  for  England  the  fabulous 
golden  cities  of  Guiana. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GUIANA. 

The  vast  tract  in  the  north-east  of  the  southern  conti- 
nent of  America  which  is  now  divided  between  Vene- 
zuela and  three  European  powers,  was  known  in  the 
sixteenth  century  by  the  name  of  Guiana.  Of  this 
district  the  three  territories  now  styled  English,  Dutch, 
and  French  Guiana  respectively  form  but  an  insigni- 
ficant coast-line,  actually  lying  outside  the  vague  east- 
em  limit  of  the  traditional  empire  of  Guiana.  As  early 
as  1539  a  brother  of  the  great  Pizarro  had  returned 
to  Peru  with  a  legend  of  a  prince  of  Guiana  whose  body 
was  smeared  with  turpentine  and  then  blown  upon  with 
gold  dust,  so  that  he  strode  naked  among  his  people 
like  a  majestic  golden  statue.  This  prince  was  El  Dorado, 
the  Gilded  One.  But  as  time  went  on  this  title  was 
transferred  from  the  monarch  to  his  kingdom,  or  rather 
to  a  central  lake  hemmed  in  by  golden  mountains  in 
the  heart  of  Guiana.  Spanish  and  German  adventurers 
made  effort  after  effort  to  reach  this  laguna,  starting 
now  from  Peru,  now  from  Quito,  now  from  Trinidad, 
but  they  never  found  it:  little  advance  was  made  in 
knowledge  or  authority,  nor  did  Spain  raise  any  defi- 
nite pretensions  to  Guiana,  although  her  provinces 
hemmed  it  in  upon  three  sides. 

r 


66  Raleigh 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Ealeigh,  who  followed  with 
the  closest  attention  the  nascent  geographical  literature 
of  his  time,  read  the  successive  accounts  which  the 
Spaniards  and  Germans  gave  of  their  explorations  in 
South  America.  But  it  was  not  until  1594  that  he 
seems  to  have  been  specially  attracted  to  Guiana.  At 
every  part  of  his  career  it  was  ^  hatred  of  the  tyrannous 
prosperity '  of  Spain  which  excited  him  to  action. 
Early  in  1594  Captain  George  Popham,  sailing  appa- 
rently in  one  of  Ealeigh's  vessels,  captured  at  sea  and 
brought  to  the  latter  certain  letters  sent  home  to  the 
King  of  Spain  announcing  that  on  April  23,  1593,  at 
a  place  called  Warismero,  on  the  Orinoco,  Antonio  de 
Berreo,  the  Governor  of  Trinidad,  had  annexed  Guiana 
to  the  dominions  of  his  Catholic  Majesty,  under  the 
name  of  El  Nuevo  Dorado.  In  these  same  letters 
various  reports  of  the  country  and  its  inhabitants  were 
repeated,  that  the  chiefs  danced  with  their  naked  bodies 
gleaming  with  gold  dust,  and  with  golden  eagles  dangling 
from  their  breasts  and  great  pearls  from  their  ears,  that 
there  were  rich  mines  of  diamonds  and  of  gold,  that  the 
innocent  people  were  longing  to  exchange  their  jewels 
for  jews-harps.  Ealeigh  was  aroused  at  once,  less  by 
the  splendours  of  the  description  than  by  the  fact 
that  this  unknown  country,  with  its  mysterious  possi- 
bilities, had  been  impudently  added  to  the  plunder  of 
Spain.  He  immediately  fitted  out  a  ship,  and  sent 
Captain  Jacob  Whiddon,  an  old  servant  of  his,  to  act  as 
a  pioneer,  and  get  what  knowledge  he  could  of  Guiana. 
Whiddon  went  to  Trinidad,  saw  Berreo,  was  put  off  by 
him  with  various  treacherous  excuses,  and  returned  to 
England  in  the  winter  of  1594  with  but  a  scanty  stock 


Guiana  6^ 

of  fresh  information.  It  was  enough,  however,  to  en- 
courage Raleigh  to  start  for  Guiana  without  delay. 

On  December  26  he  writes  :  '  This  wind  breaks  my 
heart.  That  which  should  carry  me  hence  now  stays 
me  here,  and  holds  seven  ships  in  the  river  of  Thames. 
As  soon  as  God  sends  them  hither  I  will  not  lose  one 
hour  of  time.'  On  January  2,  1595,  he  is  still  at  Sher- 
borne,* only  gazing  for  a  wind  to  carry  me  to  my  destiny.' 
At  last,  on  February  6  he  sailed  away  from  Plymouth, 
not  with  seven,  but  with  five  ships,  together  with  small 
craft  for  ascending  rivers.  What  the  number  of  his 
crew  was,  he  nowhere  states.  The  section  of  them 
which  he  took  up  to  the  Orinoco  he  describes  as  'a 
handful  of  men,  being  in  all  about  a  hundred  gentlemen ; 
soldiers,  rowers,  boat-keepers,  boys,  and  all  sorts.* 
Sir  Robert  Cecil  was  to  have  adventured  his  own  ship, 
the  *  Lion's  Whelp,'  and  for  her  Raleigh  waited  seven 
or  eight  days  among  the  Canaries,  but  she  did  not  arrive. 
On  the  17th  they  captured  at  Fuerteventura  two  ships, 
Spanish  and  Flemish,  and  stocked  their  own  vessels  with 
wine  from  the  latter. 

They  then  sailed  on  into  the  west,  and  on  March  22 
arrived  on  the  south  side  of  Trinidad,  casting  anchor  on 
the  north  shore  of  the  Serpent's  Mouth.  Raleigh  person- 
ally explored  the  southern  and  western  coasts  of  the 
island  in  a  small  boat,  while  the  ships  kept  to  the  channel. 
He  was  amazed  to  find  oysters  in  the  brackish  creeks 
hanging  to  the  branches  of  the  mangrove  trees  at  low 
water,  and  he  examined  also  the  now  famous  liquid  pitch 
of  Trinidad.  Twenty  years  afterwards,  in  writing  The 
History  of  the  World,  we  find  his  memory  still  dwelling 
on  these  natural  wonders.     At  the  first  settlement  the 


68  Raleigh 

EnglisK  fleet  came  to.  Port  of  Spain,  they  traded  with  the 
Spanish  colonists,  and  Raleigh  endeavoured  to  find  out 
what  he  could,  which  was  but  little,  about  Guiana.  He 
pretended  that  he  was  asking  merely  out  of  curiosity, 
and  was  on  his  way  to  his  own  colony  of  Virginia. 

While  Raleigh  was  anchored  off  Port  of  Spain,  he 
found  that  Berreo,  the  Governor,  had  privately  sent 
for  reinforcements  to  Marguerita  and  Cumana,  meaning 
to  attack  him  suddenly.  At  the  same  time  the  Indians 
came  secretly  aboard  the  English  ships  with  terrible 
complaints  of  Spanish  cruelty.  Berreo  was  keeping 
the  ancient  chiefs  of  the  island  in  prison,  and  had 
the  singular  foible  of  amusing  himself  at  intervals  by 
basting  their  bare  limbs  with  broiling  bacon.  These 
considerations  determined  Raleigh  to  take  the  initiative. 
That  same  evening  he  marched  his  men  up  the  country 
to  the  new  capital  of  the  island,  St.  Joseph,  which 
they  easily  stormed,  and  in  it  they  captured  Berreo. 
Raleigh  found  five  poor  roasted  chieftains  hanging  in 
irons  at  the  point  of  death,  and  at  their  instance  he  set 
St.  Joseph  on  fire.  That  very  day  two  more  English 
ships,  the  ^  Lion's  Whelp'  and  the  '  Galleys,'  arrived  at 
Port  of  Spain,  and  Raleigh  was  easily  master  of  the 
situation. 

Berreo  seems  to  have  submitted  with  considerable 
tact.  He  insinuated  himself  into  Raleigh's  confidence, 
and,  like  the  familiar  poet  in  Shakespeare's  sonnet, 
^nightly  gulled  him  with  intelligence.'  His  original 
idea  probably  was  that  by  inflaming  Raleigh's  imagi- 
nation with  the  wonders  of  Guiana,  he  would  be  the 
more  likely  to  plunge  to  his  own  destruction  into  the 
fatal  swamps  of  the   Orinoco.     It  is   curious   to   find 


Guiana  69 

even  Raleigh,  who  was  eminently  humane  in  his  own 
dealings  with  the  Indians,  speaking  in  these  terms 
of  such  a  cruel  scoundrel  as  Berreo,  ^a  gentleman 
well  descended,  very  valiant  and  liberal,  and  a  gentle- 
man of  great  assuredness,  and  of  a  great  heart:  I 
used  him  according  to  his  estate  and  worth  in  all 
things  I  could,  according  to  the  small  means  I  had.' 
Berreo  showed  him  a  copy  he  held  of  a  journal  kept  by 
a  certain  Juan  Martinez,  who  professed  to  have  pene- 
trated as  far  as  Manoa,  the  capital  of  Guiana.  This 
narrative  was  very  shortly  afterwards  exposed  as  'an 
invention  of  the  fat  friars  of  Puerto  Rico,'  but  Raleigh 
believed  it,  and  it  greatly  encouraged  him.  When 
Berreo  realised  that  he  certainly  meant  to  attempt  the 
expedition,  his  tone  altered,  and  he  '  was  stricken  into  a 
great  melancholy  and  sadness,  using  all  the  arguments 
he  could  to  dissuade  me,  and  also  assuring  the  gentle- 
men of  my  company  that  it  would  be  labour  lost,'  but 
all  in  vain. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  cross  the  Serpent's 
Mouth,  and  to  ascend  one  of  the  streams  of  the  great 
delta.  Raleigh  sent  Captain  Whiddon  to  explore  the 
southern  coast,  and  determined  from  his  report  to  take 
the  Capuri,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  the  Macareo  branch, 
which  lies  directly  under  the  western  extremity  of 
Trinidad.'  After  an  unsuccessful  effort  here,  he  started 
farther  west,  on  the  Cano  Manamo,  which  he  calls  the 
River  of  the  Red  Cross.  He  found  it  exceedingly  dif- 
ficult to  enter,  owing  to  the  sudden  rise  and  fall  of  the 
flood  in  the  river,  and  the  violence  of  the  current.  At 
last  they  started,  passing  up  the  river  on  the  tide,  and 
anchoring  in  the   ebb,  and   in  this  way  went   slowly 


70  Raleigh 

onward.  The  vessels  wliich  carried  them  were  little 
fitted  for  such  a  task.  Raleigh  had  had  an  old  galley 
furnished  with  benches  to  row  upon,  and  so  far  cut 
down  that  she  drew  but  five  feet  of  water;  he  had 
also  a  barge,  two  wherries,  and  a  ship's  boat,  and  in 
this  miserable  fleet,  leaving  his  large  vessels  behind 
him  in  the  Gulf  of  Paria,  he  accomplished  his  perilous 
and  painful  voyage  to  the  Orinoco  and  back,  with  one 
hundred  persons  and  their  provisions.  Of  the  misery  of 
these  four  hundred  miles  he  gives  a  graphic  account : 

We  were  all  driven  to  lie  in  the  rain  and  weather,  in  the 
open  air,  in  the  burning  sun,  and  upon  the  hard  boards,  and 
to  dress  our  meat,  and  to  carry  all  manner  of  furniture, 
wherewith  [the  boats]  were  so  pestered  and  unsavoury,  that 
what  with  victuals  being  most  fish,  with  the  wet  clothes  of 
so  many  men  thrust  together,  and  the  heat  of  the  sun,  I 
will  undertake  there  was  never  any  prison  in  England  that 
could  be  found  more  unsavoury  and  loathsome,  especially 
to  myself,  who  had  for  many  years  before  been  dieted  and 
cared  for  in  a  sort  far  different. 

On  the  third  day,  as  they  were  ascending  the  river, 
the  galley  stuck  so  fast  that  they  thought  their  expe- 
dition would  have  ended  there  ;  but  after  casting  out  all 
her  ballast,  and  after  much  tugging  and  hauling  to  and 
fro,  they  got  off  in  twelve  hours.  When  they  had 
ascended  beyond  the  limit  of  the  tide,  the  violence  of 
the  current  became  a  very  serious  difficulty,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  seventh  day  the  crews  began  to  despair,  the 
temperature  being  extremely  hot,  and  the  thick  foliage 
of  the  Ita-palms  on  either  side  of  the  river  excluding 
every  breath  of  air.  Day  by  day  the  Indian  pilots 
assured  them  that  the  next  night  should  be  the  last. 


Guiana  71 

Raleigli  had  to  harangue  his  men  to  prevent  mutiny, 
for  now  their  provisions  also  were  exhausted.  He  told 
them  that  if  they  returned  through  that  deadly  swamp 
they  must  die  of  starvation,  and  that  the  world  would 
laugh  their  memory  to  scorn. 

Presently  things  grew  a  little  better.  They  found 
wholesome  fruits  on  the  banks,  and  now  that  the  streams 
were  purer  they  caught  fish.  Not  knowing  what  they 
saw,  they  marvelled  at  the  'birds  of  all  colours,  some 
carnation,  orange  tawny,'  which  was  Raleigh's  own 
colour,  'purple,  green,  watchet  and  of  all  other  sorts 
both  simple  and  mixed,  as  it  was  unto  us  a  great  good 
passing  of  the  time  to  behold  them,  besides  the  relief 
we  found  by  killing  some  store  of  them  with  our  fowl- 
ing pieces.'  These  savannahs  are  full  of  birds,  and  the 
brilliant  macaws  which  excited  Raleigh's  admiration 
make  an  excellent  stew,  with  the  flavour,  according  to 
Sir  Robert  Schomburgk,  of  hare  soup.  Their  pilot  now 
persuaded  them  to  anchor  the  galley  in  the  main  river, 
and  come  with  him  up  a  creek,  on  the  right  hand,  which 
would  bring  them  to  a  town.  On  this  wild-goose  chase 
they  ascended  the  side-stream  for  forty  miles ;  it  was 
probably  the  Cucuina,  which  was  simply  winding  back 
with  them  towards  the  Gulf  of  Paria.  They  felt  that 
the  Indian  was  tricking  them,  but  about  midnight, 
while  they  were  talking  of  hanging  him,  they  saw  a 
light  and  heard  the  baying  of  dogs.  They  had  found 
an  Indian  village,  and  here  they  rested  well,  and  had 
plenty  of  food  and  drink.  Upon  this  new  river  they 
were  charmed  to  see  the  deer  come  feeding  down  to 
the  water's  brink,  and  Raleigh  describes  the  scene  as 
though  it  reminded  him  of  his  own  park  at  Sherborne. 


72  Raleigh 

They  were  alarmed  at  the  crowds  of  alligators,  and 
one  handsome  young  negro,  who  leaped  into  the  river 
from  the  galley,  was  instantly  devoured  in  Raleigh's 
sight. 

Next  day  they  regained  the  great  river,  and  their 
anxious  comrades  in  the  '  Lion's  Whelp.'  They  passed 
on  together,  and  were  fortunate  enough  to  meet  with 
four  Indian  canoes  laden  with  excellent  bread.  The 
Indians  ran  away  and  left  their  possessions,  and 
Raleigh's  dreams  of  mineral  wealth  were  excited  by  the 
discovery  of  what  he  took  to  be  a  ^  refiner's  basket,  for 
I  found  in  it  his  quicksilver,  saltpetre,  and  divers  things 
for  the  trial  of  metals,  and  also  the  dust  of  such  ore  as 
he  had  refined.'  He  was  minded  to  stay  here  and  dig 
for  gold,  but  was  prevented  by  a  phenomenon  which  he 
mentions  incidentally,  but  which  has  done  much  to 
prove  the  reality  of  his  narrative.  He  says  that  all  the 
little  creeks  which  ran  towards  the  Orinoco  ^  were  raised 
with  such  speed,  as  if  we  waded  them  over  the  shoes 
in  the  morning  outward,  we  were  covered  to  the 
shoulders  homeward  the  very  same  day.'  Sir  R.  Schom- 
burgk  found  exactly  the  same  to  be  the  case  when  he 
explored  Guiana  in  1843. 

They  pushed  on  therefore  along  the  dreary  river,  and 
on  the  fifteenth  day  had  the  joy  of  seeing  straight 
before  them  far  away  the  peaks  of  Peluca  and  Paisapa, 
the  summits  of  the  Imataca  mountains  which  divide 
the  Orinoco  from  the  Essequibo.  The  same  evening, 
favoured  by  a  strong  northerly  wind,  they  came  in  sight 
of  the  great  Orinoco  itself,  and  anchored  in  it  a  little  to 
the  east  of  the  present  settlement  of  San  Rafael  de 
Barrancas.    Their  spirits  were  high  again.   They  feasted 


Guiana  73 

on  the  eggs  of  the  freshwater  turtles  which  they  found 
in  thousands  on  the  sandy  islands,  and  they  gazed  with 
rapture  on  the  mountains  to  the  south  of  them  which 
rose  out  of  the  very  heart  of  Guiana.  A  friendly  chieftain 
carried  them  off  to  his  village,  where,  to  preserve  the 
delightful  spelling  of  the  age,  ^  some  of  our  captaines 
garoused  of  his  wine  till  they  were  reasonable  pleasant,' 
this  wine  being  probably  the  cassivi  or  fermented  juice 
of  the  sweet  potato.  It  redounds  to  Raleigh's  especial 
credit  that  in  an  age  when  great  license  was  customary 
in  dealing  with  savages,  he  strictly  prohibited  his  men, 
under  threat  of  punishment  by  death,  from  insulting 
the  Indian  women.  His  just  admiration  of  the  fair 
Caribs,  however,  was  quite  enthusiastic ; 

The  casique  that  was  a  stranger  had  his  wife  staying  at 
the  port  where  we  anchored,  and  in  all  my  life  I  have  seldom 
seen  a  better-favoured  woman.  She  was  of  good  stature, 
with  black  eyes,  fat  of  body,  of  an  excellent  countenance, 
and  taking  great  pride  therein.  I  have  seen  a  lady  in 
England  so  Hke  her,  as  but  for  the  difference  of  colour  I 
would  have  sworn  might  have  been  the  same. 

They  started  to  ascend  the  Orinoco,  having  so  little 
just  understanding  of  the  geography  of  South 
America  that  they  thought  if  they  could  only  sail  far 
enough  up  the  river  they  would  come  out  on  the  other 
side  of  the  continent  at  Quito.  It  has  been  noticed  that 
Raleigh  passed  close  to  the  Spanish  settlement  of 
Guayana  Vieja,  which  Berreo  had  founded  four  years 
before.  Perhaps  it  was  by  this  time  deserted,  and 
Raleigh  may  really  have  gone  by  it  without  seeing  it. 
More  probably,  however,  its  existence  interfered  with 


74  Raleigh 

his  theory  that  all  this  territory  was  untouched  by 
Europeans,  and  therefore  open  to  be  annexed  in  the 
name  of  her  English  Majesty.  Passing  up  the  Orinoco, 
he  came  at  last  to  what  he  calls  ^  the  port  of  Morequito/ 
where  he  made  some  stay,  and  enjoyed  the  luxury  of 
pine-apples,  which  he  styles  '-  the  princess  of  fruits.' 
He  was  also  introduced  to  that  pleasing  beast  the  arma- 
dillo, whose  powers  and  functions  he  a  little  misunder- 
stood, for  he  says  of  it, '  it  seemeth  to  be  all  barred  over 
with  small  plates  like  to  a  rhinoceros,  with  a  white  horn 
growing  in  his  hinder  parts,  like  unto  a  hunting  horn, 
which  they  use  to  wind  instead  of  a  trumpet/  What 
Raleigh  mistook  for  a  hunting-horn  was  the  stiff  tail  of 
the  armadillo.  Raleigh  warned  the  peaceful  and  friendly 
inhabitants  of  Morequito  against  the  villanies  of  Spain, 
and  recommended  England  to  them  as  a  safe  protector. 
He  then  pursued  his  westerly  course  to  an  island  which 
he  calls  Caiama,  and  which  is  now  named  Fajardo, 
which  was  the  farthest  point  he  reached  upon  the 
Orinoco.  '  This  island  lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  Caroni, 
the  great  southern  artery  of  the  watershed,  and  Raleigh's 
final  expedition  was  made  up  this  stream.  He  reached 
the  foot  of  the  great  cataract,  now  named  Salto  Caroni, 
and  his  description  of  this  noble  natural  wonder  may  be 
quoted  as  a  favourable  instance  of  his  style,  and  as  the 
crown  of  his  geographical  enterprise : 

When  we  ran  to  the  tops  of  the  first  hills  of  the  plains 
adjoining  to  the  river,  we  behold  that  wonderful  breach  of 
waters,  which  ran  down  Caroli  [Caroni]  ;  and  might  from 
that  mountain  see  the  river  how  it  ran  in  three  parts,  above 
twenty  miles  off,  and  there  appeared  some  ten  or  twelve 
overfalls  in  sight,  every  one  as  high  over  the  other  as  a 


Guiana  75 

church  tower,  which  fell  with  that  fury  that  the  rebound 
of  waters  made  it  seem  as  if  it  had  been  all  covered  over 
with  a  great  shower  of  rain  ;  and  in  some  places  we  took  it 
at  the  first  for  a  smoke  that  had  risen  over  some  great  town. 
Eor  mine  own  part,  I  was  well  persuaded  from  thence  to 
have  returned,  being  a  very  ill  footman,  but  the  rest  were  all 
so  desirous  to  go  near  the  said  strange  thunder  of  waters, 
that  they  drew  me  on  by  little  and  little,  till  we  came  into 
the  next  valley,  where  we  might  better  discern  the  same. 
I  never  saw  a  more  beautiful  country,  nor  more  lively 
prospects,  hills  so  raised  here  and  there  over  the  valleys,  the 
river  winding  into  divers  branches,  the  plains  adjoining 
without  bush  or  stubble,  all  fair  green  grass,  the  ground  of 
hard  sand  easy  to  march  on  either  for  horse  or  foot,  the 
deer  crossing  in  every  path,  the  birds  towards  the  evening 
singing  on  every  tree  with  a  thousand  several  tunes,  cranes 
and  herons  of  white,  crimson,  and  carnation  perching  on  the 
river's  side,  the  air  fresh  with  a  gentle  easterly  wind,  and 
every  stone  that  we  stooped  to  take  up  promised  either  gold 
or  silver  by  his  complexion. 

The  last  touch  spoils  an  exquisite  picture.  It  is  at 
once  dispiriting  to  find  so  intrepid  a  geographer  and  so 
acute  a  merchant  befooled  by  the  madness  of  gold,  and 
pathetic  to  know  that  his  hopes  in  this  direction  were 
absolutely  unfounded.  The  white  quartz  of  Guiana, 
the  'hard  white  spar'  which  Raleigh  describes,  con- 
fessedly contains  gold,  although,  as  far  as  is  at  present 
known,  in  quantities  so  small  as  not  to  reward  working. 
Humboldt  says  that  his  examination  of  Guiana  gold 
led  him  to  believe  that,  '  like  tin,  it  is  sometimes  dis- 
seminated in  an  almost  imperceptible  manner  in  the 
mass  of  granite  rocks  itself,  without  our  being  able  to 
admit  that  there  is  a  ramification  and  an  interlacing  of 
8 


^6  Raleigh 

small  veins.'  It  is  plain  tliat  Raleigh  got  hold  of  un- 
usually rich  specimens  of  the  sparse  auriferous  quartz. 
He  was  accused  on  his  return  of  having  brought  his 
specimens  from  Africa,  but  no  one  suggested  that  they 
did  not  contain  gold.  No  doubt  much  of  the  sparkling 
dust  he  saw  in  the  rocks  was  simply  iron  pyrites,  or 
some  other  of  the  minerals  which  to  this  day  are  known 
to  the  wise  in  California  as  '  fool's  gold.'  His  expe- 
dition had  come  to  America  unprovided  with  tools  of 
any  kind,  and  Raleigh  confesses  that  such  specimens  of 
ore  as  they  did  not  buy  from  the  Indians,  they  had  to 
tear  out  with  their  daggers  or  with  their  fingers. 

It  has  been  customary  of  late,  in  reaction  against  the 
defamation  of  Raleigh  in  the  eighteenth  century,  to 
protest  that  gold  was  not  his  chief  aim  in  the  Guiana 
enterprise,  but  that  his  main  wish,  under  cover  of 
the  search  for  gold,  was  to  form  a  South  American 
colony  for  England,  and  to  open  out  the  west  to 
general  commerce.  With  every  wish  to  hold  this 
view,  I  am  unable  to  do  so  in  the  face  of  the  existing 
evidence.  More  humane,  more  intelligent  than  any  of 
the  adventurers  who  had  preceded  him,  it  yet  does  not 
seem  that  Raleigh  was  less  insanely  bitten  with  the 
gold  fever  than  any  of  them.  He  saw  the  fleets  of 
Spain  return  to  Europe  year  after  year  laden  with 
precious  metals  from  Mexico,  and  he  exaggerated,  as  all 
men  of  his  age  did,  the  power  of  this  tide  of  gold.  He 
conceived  that  no  one  would  stem  the  dangerous  in- 
fluence of  Spain  until  the  stream  of  wealth  was  diverted 
or  divided.  He  says  in  the  most  direct  language  that 
it  is  not  the  trade  of  Spain,  her  exports  of  wines 
and  Seville  oranges  and  other  legitimate  produce,  that 


Guiana  77 

threatens  shipwreck  to  us  all ;  4t  is  his  Indian  gold  that 
endangereth  and  disturbeth  all  the  nations  of  Europe ; 
it  purchased  intelligence,  creepeth  into  councils,  and 
setteth  bound  loyalty  at  liberty  in  the  greatest  mon- 
archies of  Europe.'  In  Raleigh's  exploration  of  Guiana, 
his  steadfast  hope,  the  hope  which  led  him  patiently 
through  so  many  hardships,  was  that  he  might  secure 
for  Elizabeth  a  vast  auriferous  colony,  the  proceeds  of 
which  might  rival  the  revenues  of  Mexico  and  Peru. 
But  we  must  not  make  the  mistake  of  supposing  him 
to  have  been  so  wise  before  his  time  as  to  perceive  that 
the  real  wealth  which  might  paralyse  a  selfish  power 
like  that  of  Spain  would  consist  in  the  cereals  and  other 
products  which  such  a  colony  might  learn  to  export. 

Resting  among  the  friendly  Indians  in  the  heart  of 
the  strange  country  to  which  he  had  penetrated,  Raleigh 
became  in  many  ways  the  victim  of  his  ignorance  and 
his  pardonable  credulity.  Not  only  was  he  gulled  with 
diamonds  and  sapphires  that  were  really  rock-crystals, 
but  he  was  made  to  believe  that  there  existed  west  of 
the  Orinoco  a  tribe  of  Indians  whose  eyes  were  in 
their  shoulders,  and  their  mouths  in  the  middle  of  their 
breasts.  He  does  not  pretend  that  he  saw  such  folks, 
however,  or  that  he  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  conversing 
with  any  of  the  Ewaipanoma,  or  men  without  heads,  or 
of  that  other  tribe,  '  who  have  eminent  heads  like  dogs, 
and  live  all  the  day-time  in  the  sea,  and  speak  the 
Carib  language.'  Of  all  these  he  speaks  from  modest 
hearsay,  and  less  confidently  than  Othello  did  to  Desde- 
mona.  It  is  true  that  he  relates  marvellous  and 
fabulous  things,  but  it  is  no  less  than  just  to  distinguish 
very  carefully  between  what  he  repeats  and  what  he 


78  Raleigh 

reports.  For  the  former  we  have  to  take  the  evidence 
of  his  interpreters,  who  but  dimly  understood  what  the 
Indians  told  them,  and  Raleigh  cannot  be  held  person- 
ally responsible ;  for  the  latter,  the  testimony  of  all  later 
explorers,  especially  Humboldt  and  Schomburgk,  is  that 
Raleigh's  narrative,  where  he  does  not  fall  into  obvious 
and  easily  intelligible  error,  is  remarkably  clear  and 
simple,  and  full  of  internal  evidence  of  its  genuineness. 
They  had  now  been  absent  from  their  ships  for 
nearly  a  month,  and  Raleigh  began  to  give  up  all  hope 
of  being  able  on  this  occasion  to  reach  the  city  of  Manoa. 
The  fury  of  the  Orinoco  began  to  alarm  them ;  they  did 
not  know  what  might  happen  in  a  country  subject  to 
such  sudden  and  phenomenal  floods.  Tropical  rains  fell 
with  terrific  violence,  and  the  men  would  get  wetted  to 
the  skin  ten  times  a  day.  It  was  cold,  it  was  windy, 
and  to  push  on  farther  seemed  perfectly  hopeless. 
Raleigh  therefore  determined  to  return,  and  they  glided 
down  the  vast  river  at  a  rapid  pace,  without  need  of  sail 
or  oar.  At  Morequito,  Raleigh  sent  for  the  old  Indian 
chief,  Topiawari,  who  had  been  so  friendly  to  him  before, 
and  had  a  solemn  interview  with  him.  He  took  him 
into  his  tent,  and  shutting  out  all  other  persons  but 
the  interpreter,  he  told  him  that  Spain  was  the  enemy 
of  Guiana,  and  urged  him  to  become  the  ally  of  England. 
He  promised  to  aid  him  against  the  Epuremi,  a  native 
race  which  had  oppressed  him,  if  Topiawari  would  in 
his  turn  act  in  Guiana  for  the  Queen  of  England.  To 
this  the  old  man  and  his  followers  warmly  assented, 
urging  Raleigh  to  push  on,  if  not  for  Manoa,  at  least  for 
Macureguarai,  a  rich  city  full  of  statues  of  gold,  that  was 
but  four  days'  journey  farther  on.    This,  Raleigh,  in  con- 


Guiana  79 

sideration  of  tlie  sufferings-  of  his  followers,  declined  to 
do,  but  he  consented  to  an  odd  exchange  of  hostages,  and 
promised  the  following  year  to  make  a  better  equipped 
expedition  to  Manoa.  He  carried  off  with  him  the  son 
of  Topiawari,  and  he  left  behind  at  Morequito  a  boy 
called  Hugh  Goodwin.  To  keep  this  boy  company,  a 
young  man  named  Francis  Sparrey  volunteered  to  stay 
also  ;  he  was  a  person  of  some  education,  who  had  served 
with  Captain  Gifford.  Goodwin  had  a  fancy  for  learning 
the  Indian  language,  and  when  Raleigh  found  him  at 
Caliana  twenty-two  years  later,  he  had  almost  forgotten 
his  English.  He  was  at  last  devoured  by  a  jaguar. 
Sparrey,  who  ^  could  describe  a  country  with  his  pen,' 
was  captured  by  the  Spaniards,  taken  to  Spain,  and 
after  long  sufferings  escaped  to  England,  where  he 
published  an  account  of  Guiana  in  1602.  Sparrey  is 
chiefly  remembered  by  his  own  account  of  how  he  pur- 
chased eight  young  women,  the  eldest  but  eighteen 
years  of  age,  for  a  red-hafted  knife,  which  in  England 
had  cost  him  but  a  halfpenny.  This  was  not  the  sort 
of  trade  which  Raleigh  left  him  behind  to  encourage. 

As  they  passed  down  the  Orinoco,  they  visited  a 
lake  where  Raleigh  saw  that  extraordinary  creature  the 
manatee,  half  cow,  half  whale ;  and  a  little  lower  they 
saw  the  column  of  white  spray,  rising  like  the  tower  of 
a  church,  over  the  huge  cascades  of  the  crystal  mountains 
of  Roraima.  At  the  village  of  a  chieftain  within  ear- 
shot of  these  thundering  waters,  they  witnessed  one  of 
the  wild  drinking  feasts  of  the  Indians,  who  were  *  all 
as  drunk  as  beggars,  the  pots  walking  from  one  to 
another  without  rest.'  Next  day,  the  contingent  led 
by  Captain  Keymis  found  them,  and  to  celebrate  the 


8o  Raleigh 

meeting  of  friends,  they  passed  over  to  the  island  of 
Assapana,  now  called  Yayo,  in  the  middle  of  the  Orinoco, 
and  the  J  enj  oyed  a  feast  of  the  flesh  of  armadillos.  On  the 
following  day,  increased  cold  and  violent  thunderstorms 
reminded  them  that  the  autumn  was  far  spent,  and  they 
determined  to  return  as  quickly  as  possible  to  the  sea. 
Their  pilots  told  them,  however,  that  it  was  out  of  the 
question  to  try  to  descend  the  River  of  the  Red  Cross, 
which  they  had  ascended,  as  the  current  would  baffle 
them ;  and  therefore  they  attempted  what  is  now  called 
the  Macareo  channel,  farther  east.  Raleigh  names  this 
stream  the  Capuri. 

They  had  no  further  adventures  until  they  reached 
the  sea ;  but  as  they  emerged  into  the  Serpent's  Mouth, 
a  great  storm  attacked  them.  They  ran  before  night 
close  under  shore  with  their  small  boats,  and  brought 
the  galley  as  near  as  they  could.  The  latter,  however, 
very  nearly  sank,  and  Raleigh  was  puzzled  what  to  do. 
A  bar  of  sand  ran  across  the  mouth  of  the  river,  covered 
by  only  six  feet  of  water,  and  the  galley  drew  five.  The 
longer  he  hesitated,  the  worse  the  weather  grew,  and 
therefore  he  finally  took  Captain  Gifibrd  into  his  own 
barge,  and  thrust  out  to  sea,  leaving  the  galley  anchored 
by  the  shore.  '  So  being  all  very  sober  and  melancholy, 
one  faintly  cheering  another  to  show  courage,  it  pleased 
God  that  the  next  day,  about  nine  of  the  clock,  we 
descried  the  island  of  Trinidad,  and  steering  for  the 
nearest  part  of  it,  we  kept  the  shore  till  we  came  to 
Curiapan,  where  we  found  our  ships  at  anchor,  than 
which  there  was  never  to  us  a  more  joyful  sight.' 

In  spite  of  the  hardships  of  the  journey,  the  constant 
wettings,  the  bad  water  and  insufficient  food,  the  lodging 


Guiana  8i 

in  the  open  air  every  night,  he  had  only  lost  a  single 
man,  the  young  negro  who  was  snapped  up  by  the 
alligator  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cucuina.  At"  the  coast 
there  are  dangerous  miasmata  which  often  prove  fatal 
to  Europeans,  but  the  interior  of  this  part  of  South 
America  is  reported  by  later  travellers  to  be  no  less 
wholesome  than  Raleigh  found  it. 

During  Raleigh's  absence  his  fleet  had  not  lain  idle 
at  Trinidad.  Captain  Amyas  Preston,  whom  he  had  left 
in  charge,  determined  to  take  the  initiative  against  the 
Spanish  forces  which  Berreo  had  summoned  to  his  help. 
With  four  ships  Preston  began  to  harry  the  coast  of 
Venezuela.  On  May  21  he  appeared  before  the  impor- 
tant town  of  Cumana,  but  was  persuaded  to  spare  it 
from  sack  upon  payment  of  a  large  sum  by  the  inha- 
bitants. Captain  Preston  landed  part  of  his  crew  here, 
and  they  crossed  the  country  westward  to  Caracas, 
which  they  plundered  and  burned.  The  fleet  proceeded 
to  Coro,  in  New  Granada,  which  they  treated  in  the 
same  way.  When  they  returned  is  uncertain,  but 
Raleigh  found  them  at  Curiapan  when  he  came  back  to 
Trinidad,  and  with  them  he  coasted  once  more  the 
northern  shore  of  South  America.  He  burned  Cumana, 
but  was  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  plunder,  for  he 
says,  '  In  the  port  towns  of  the  province  of  Vensuello 
[Venezuela]  we  found  not  the  value  of  one  real  of  plate/ 
The  fact  was  that  the  repeated  voyages  of  the  English 
captains — and  Drake  was  immediately  to  follow  in 
Raleigh's  steps — had  made  the  inhabitants  of  these 
northern  cities  exceedingly  wary.  The  precious  products 
were  either  stored  in  the  hills,  or  shipped  off  to  Spain 
without  loss  of  time. 


82  Raleigh 

Raleigh's  return  to  England  was  performed  without 
any  publicity.  He  stole  home  so  quietly  that  some 
people  declared  that  he  had  been  all  the  time  snug 
in  some  Cornish  haven.  His  biographers,  including 
Mr.  Edwards,  have  dated  his  return  in  August,  being 
led  away  by  a  statement  of  Davis's,  manifestly  inaccu- 
rately dated,  that  Raleigh  and  Preston  were  sailing  off 
the  coast  of  Cuba  in  July.  This  is  incompatible  with 
Raleigh's  fear  of  the  rapid  approach  of  winter  while  he 
was  still  in  Guiana.  It  would  also  be  difficult  to  account 
for  the  entire  absence  of  reference  to  him  in  England 
before  the  winter.  It  is  more  likely  that  he  found  his 
way  back  into  Falmouth  or  Dartmouth  towards  the  end 
of  October  1595.  On  November  10,  he  wrote  to  Cecil, 
plainly  smarting  under  the  neglect  which  he  had  re- 
ceived. He  thought  that  coming  from  the  west,  with  an 
empire  in  his  hand  as  a  gift  for  Elizabeth,  the  Queen 
would  take  him  into  favour  again,  but  he  was  mistaken. 
He  writes  to  Cecil  nominally  to  offer  his  services  against 
a  rumoured  fleet  of  Spain,  but  really  to  feel  the  ground 
about  Guiana,  and  the  interest  which  the  Government 
might  take  in  it.  ^  What  becomes  of  Guiana  I  much 
desire  to  hear,  whether  it  pass  for  a  history  or  a  fable. 
I  hear  Mr.  Dudley  [Sir  Robert  Dudley]  and  others  are 
sending  thither ;  if  it  be  so,  farewell  all  good  from 
thence.  For  although  myself,  lik^  a  cockscomb,  did 
rather  prefer  the  future  in  respect  of  others,  and  rather 
sought  to  win  the  kings  to  her  Majesty's  service  than  to 
sack  them,  I  know  what  others  will  do  when  those  kings 
shall  come  singly  into  their  hands.' 

Meanwhile  he  had  been  writing  an  account  of  his 
travels,  and  on  November  13,  1595,  he  sent  a  copy  of 


Guiana  Zi 

this  in  manuscript  to  Cecil,  no  doubt  in  hope  that  it 
might  be  shown  to  Elizabeth.  In  the  interesting  letter 
which  accompanied  this  manuscript  he  inclosed  a  map  of 
Guiana,  long  supposed  to  have  been  lost,  which  was  found 
by  Mr.  St.  John  in  the  archives  of  Simancas,  signed  with 
Ealeigh's  name,  and  in  perfect  condition.  It  is  evident 
that  Ealeigh  could  hardly  endure  the  disappointment  of 
repulse.  He  says,  ^I  know  the  like  fortune  was  never 
offered  to  any  Christian  prince,'  and  losing  his  balance 
altogether  in  his  extravagant  pertinacity,  he  declares  to 
Cecil  that  the  city  of  Manoa  contains  stores  of  golden 
statues,  not  one  of  which  can  be  worth  less  than 
100,000L  If  the  English  Government  will  not  prose- 
cute the  enterprise  that  he  has  sketched  out,  Spain  and 
France  will  shortly  do  so,  and  Raleigh,  in  the  face  of 
such  apathy,  '  concludes  that  we  are  cursed  of  God.' 
Amid  all  this  excitement,  it  is  pleasant  to  find  him 
remembering  to  be  humane,  and  begging  Cecil  to 
impress  the  Queen  with  the  need  of  *  not  soiling  this 
enterprise'  with  cruelty;  nor  permitting  any  to  proceed 
to  Guiana  whose  object  shall  only  be  to  plunder  the 
Indians.  He  sends  Cecil  an  amethyst  *  with  a  strange 
blush  of  carnation,'  and  another  stone,  which  '  if  it  be 
no  diamond,  yet  exceeds  -any  diamond  in  beauty.' 

Raleigh  now  determined  to  appeal  to  the  public  at 
large,  and  towards  Christmas  1595  he  published  his 
famous  volume,  which  bears  the  date  1596,  and  is 
entitled,  after  the  leisurely  fashion  of  the  age.  The  JDis- 
covery  of  the  large,  rich,  and  beautiful  Empii'e  of  Guiana, 
with  a  Relation  of  the  Gi'eat  and  Golden  City  of  Manoa, 
ivMch  the  Spaniards  call  JEl  Dorado,  and  the  Provinces 
of  Emeria,  Arromaia,  Amajpaia,  and  other  Countries,  with 


84  Raleigh 

iheir  Rivers,  adjoining.  Of  this  volume  two  editions 
appeared  in  1596,  it  was  presently  translated  into  Latin 
and  published  in  Germany,  and  in  short  gained  a  repu- 
tation throughout  Europe.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
Raleigh's  outspoken  hatred  of  Spain,  expressed  in  this 
printed  form,  from  which  there  could  be  no  escape  on  the 
ground  of  mere  hearsay,  was  the  final  word  of  his  chal- 
lenge to  that  Power.  From  this  time  forth  Raleigh  was 
an  enemy  which  Spain  could  not  even  pretend  to  ignore. 

The  Discovery  of  Guiana  was  dedicated  to  the 
Lord  Admiral  Howard  and  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  with 
a  reference  to  the  support  which  the  author  had 
found  in  their  love  '  in  the  darkest  shadow  of  adversity.' 
There  was  probably  some  courtly  exaggeration,  mingled 
with  self-interest,  in  the  gratitude  expressed  to  Cecil. 
Already  the  relation  of  this  cold-blooded  statesman  to 
the  impulsive  Raleigh  becomes  a  crux  to  the  biographers 
of  the  latter.  Cecil's  letters  to  his  father  from  Devon- 
shire on  the  matter  of  the  Indian  carracks  in  1592  are 
incompatible  with  Raleigh's  outspoken  thanks  to  Cecil 
for  the  trial  of  his  love  when  Raleigh  was  bereft  of  all 
but  malice  and  revenge,  unless  we  suppose  that  these 
letters  represented  what  Burghley  would  like  to  hear 
rather  than  what  Robert  Cecil  actually  felt.  In  1596 
Burghley,  in  extreme  old  age,  was  a  factor  no  longer  to 
be  taken  into  much  consideration.  Moreover,  Lady 
Raleigh  had  some  hold  of  relationship  or  old  friendship 
on  Cecil,  the  exact  nature  of  which  it  is  not  easy  to 
understand.  At  all  events,  as  long  as  Raleigh  could 
hold  the  favour  of  Cecil,  the  ear  of  her  Majesty  was  not 
absolutely  closed  to  him. 

The  Discovery  possesses  a  value  which  is  neither 


Guiana  85 

biographical  nor  geographical.  It  holds  a  very  promi- 
nent place  in  the  prose  literature  of  the  age.  During 
the  five  years  which  had  elapsed  since  Raleigh's  last 
publication,  English  literature  had  been  undergoing  a 
marvellous  development,  and  he  who  read  everything 
and  sympathised  with  every  intellectual  movement 
could  not  but  be  influenced  by  what  had  been  written. 
During  those  five  years,  Marlowe's  wonderful  career  had 
been  wound  up  like  a  melodrama.  Shakespeare  had 
come  forward  as  a  poet.  A  new  epoch  in  sound  English 
prose  had  been  inaugurated  by  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical 
Polity.  Bacon  was  circulating  the  earliest  of  his  Essays. 
What  these  giants  of  our  language  were  doing  for 
their  own  departments  of  prose  and  verse,  Raleigh  did 
for  the  literature  of  travel.  Among  the  volumes  of 
navigations,  voyages,  and  discoveries,  which  were  poured 
out  so  freely  in  this  part  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  most 
of  them  now  only  remembered  because  they  were 
reprinted  in  the  collections  of  Hakluyt  and  Purchas, 
this  book  of  Raleigh's  takes  easily  the  foremost  position. 
In  comparison  with  the  blufi*  and  dull  narratives  of  the 
other  discoverers,  whose  chief  charm  is  their  naivete, 
the  Discovery  of  Guiana  has  all  the  grace  and  fullness 
of  deliberate  composition,  of  fine  literary  art,  and  as 
it  was  the  first  excellent  piece  of  sustained  travellers' 
prose,  so  it  remained  long  without  a  second  in  our 
literature.  The  brief  examples  which  it  has  alone  been 
possible  to  give  in  this  biography,  may  be  enough  to 
attract  readers  to  its  harmonious  and  glowing  pages. 

Among  the  many  allusions  found  to  this  book  in 
contemporary  records,  perhaps  the  most  curious  is  an 
epic  poem  on  Guiana,  published  almost  immediately  by 


S6  Raleigh 

George  Chapman,  who  gave  his  enthusiastic  approval  to 
Raleigh's  scheme.  It  is  the  misfortune  of  Chapman's 
style  that  in  his  grotesque  arrogance  he  disdained  to  be 
lucid,  and  this  poem  is  full  of  tantalising  hints,  which 
the  biographer  of  Raleigh  longs  to  use,  but  dares  not, 
from  their  obscurity.  These  stately  verses  are  plain 
enough,  but  show  that  Chapman  was  not  familiar  with 
the  counsels  of  Elizabeth  : 

Then  in  the  Thespiads'  bright  prophetic  font, 
Methinks  I  see  our  Liege  rise  from  her  throne, 
Her  ears  and  thoughts  in  steep  amaze  erect, 
At  the  most  rare  endeavour  of  her  power  ; 
And  now  she  blesses  with  her  wonted  graces 
The  industrious  knight,  the  soul  of  this  exploit, 
Dismissing  him  to  convoy  of  his  stars  : 

Chapman  was  quite  misinformed;  and  to  what  event 
he  now  proceeds  to  refer,  it  would  be  hard  to  say : 

And  now  for  love  and  honour  of  his  wrath. 

Our  twice-born  nobles  bring  him,  bridegroom  like, 

That  is  espoused  for  virtue  to  his  love. 

With  feasts  and  music  ravishing  the  air, 

To  his  Argolian  fleet ;  where  round  about 

His  bating  colours  English  valour  swarms 

In  haste,  as  if  Guianian  Orenoque 

With  his  full  waters  fell  upon  our  shore. 

Early  in  1596,  Raleigh  sent  Captain  Lawrence 
Keymis,  who  had  been  with  him  the  year  before,  on  a 
second  voyage  to  Guiana.  He  did  not  come  home  rich, 
but  he  did  the  special  thing  he  was  enjoined  to  do — that 
is  to  say,  he  explored  the  coast  of  South  America  from 
the   mouth   of  the   Orinoco  to  that   of  the  Amazon. 


Guiana  Zy 

About  the  same  time  Raleigh  drew  np  the  very  remark- 
able paper,  not  printed  until  1843,  entitled  Of  the  Voyage 
for  Guiana.  In  this  essay  he  first  makes  use  of  those 
copious  quotations  from  Scripture  which  later  on  became 
so  characteristic  of  his  writing.  His  hopes  of  interest- 
ing the  English  Government  in  Guiana  were  finally 
frustrated  by  the  excitement  of  the  Cadiz  expedition, 
and  by  the  melancholy  fate  of  Sir  Francis  Drake.  It 
is  said  that  during  this  winter  he  lived  in  great  magni- 
ficence at  Durham  House,  but  this  statement  seems 
improbable.  All  the  letters  of  Raleigh's  now  in  exist- 
ence, belonging  to  this  period,  are  dated  from  Sherborne, 


88  Raleigh 


CHAPTER  V. 

CADIZ. 

The  defeat  of  tlie  Spanisli  Armada  Lad  inflicted  a 
wound  upon  the  prestige  of  Spain  which  was  terrible 
but  by  no  means  beyond  remedy.  In  the  eight  years 
which  had  elapsed  since  1588,  Spain  had  been  gradually 
recovering  her  forces,  and  endangering  the  political 
existence  of  Protestant  Europe  more  and  more.  Again 
and  again  the  irresolution  of  Elizabeth  had  been  called 
upon  to  complete  the  work  of  repression,  to  crush  the 
snake  that  had  been  scotched,  to  strike  a  blow  in  Spanish 
waters  from  which  Spain  never  would  recover.  In  1587, 
and  in  1589,  schemes  for  a  naval  expedition  of  this  kind 
had  been  brought  before  Council,  and  rejected.  In 
1596,  Charles  Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  with  the 
support  of  Cecil,  forced  the  Government  to  consent  to 
fit  out  an  armament  for  the  attack  of  Cadiz.  The 
Queen,  however,  was  scarcely  to  be  persuaded  that  the 
expenditure  required  for  this  purpose  could  be  spared 
from  the  Treasury.  On  April  9,  levies  of  men  were 
ordered  from  all  parts  of  England,  and  on  the  10th 
these  levies  were  countermanded,  so  that  the  messengers 
sent  on  Friday  from  the  Lords  to  Raleigh's  deputies  in 
the  West,  were  pursued  on  Saturday  by  other  mes- 
sengers with  contrary  orders. 


Cadiz  89 

The  change  of  purpose,  however,  was  itself  promptly- 
altered,  and  the  original  policy  reverted  to.  The  Earl 
of  Essex  was  joined  in  commission  with  the  Lord 
Admiral  Howard,  and  as  a  council  of  war  to  act  with 
these  personages  were  named  Sir  Walter  Ealeigh  and 
Lord  Thomas  Howard.  The  Dutch  were  to  contribute 
a  fleet  to  act  with  England.  It  is  an  interesting  fact 
that  now  for  the  first  time  the  experience  and  naval 
skill  of  Raleigh  received  their  full  recognition.  From 
the  very  first  he  was  treated  with  the  highest  conside- 
ration. Howard  wrote  to  Cecil  on  April  16 — and  Essex 
on  the  28th  used  exactly  the  same  words — '  I  pray  you, 
hasten  away  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.'  They  fretted  to  be 
gone,  and  Raleigh  was  not  to  be  found;  malignant 
spirits  were  not  wanting  to  accuse  him  of  design  in  his 
absence,  of  a  wish  to  prove  himself  indispensable.  But 
fortunately  we  possess  his  letters,  and  we  see  that  he 
was  well  and  appropriately  occupied.  In  the  previous 
November  he  had  sent  in  to  the  Lords  of  the  Council  a 
very  interesting  report  on  the  defences  of  Cornwall  and 
Devon,  which  he  had  reason  to  suppose  that  Spain 
meant  to  attack.  He  considered  that  three  hundred 
soldiers  successfully  landed  at  Plymouth  would  be 
'sufficient  to  endanger  and  destroy  the  whole  shire,' 
and  he  discussed  the  possibility  of  levying  troops  from 
the  two  counties  to  be  a  mutual  protection.  It  was 
doubtless  his  vigour  and  ability  in  performing  this  sort 
of  work  which  led  to  his  being  selected  as  the  chief  pur- 
veyor of  levies  for  the  Cadiz  expedition,  and  this  was 
what  he  was  doing  in  the  spring  of  1596,  when  the 
creatures  of  Essex  whispered  to  one  another  that  he 
was  malingering. 


90  Raleigh 

On  May  3,  lie  wrote  to  Cecil :  *  I  am  not  able  to 
live,  to  row  up  and  down  every  tide  from  Gravesend  to 
London,  and  he  that  lies  here  at  EatclifF  can  easily 
judge  when  the  rest,  and  how  the  rest,  of  the  ships  may 
sail  down/  And  again,  from  a  lower  point  of  the 
Thames,  at  Blackwall,  he  is  still  waiting  for  men  and 
ships  that  will  not  come,  and  is  '  more  grieved  than  ever 
I  was,  at  anything  in  this  world,  for  this  cross  weather.* 

Through  the  month  of  May,  we  may  trace  Kaleigh 
hard  at  work,  recruiting  for  the  Cadiz  expedition  round 
the  southern  coast  of  England.  On  the  4th  he  is  at 
Northfleet,  disgusted  to  find  how  little  her  Majesty's 
authority  is  respected,  for  '  as  fast  as  we.  press  men  one 
day,  they  come  away  another,  and  say  they  will  not 
serve.  I  cannot  write  to  our  generals  at  this  time,  for 
the  Pursuevant  found  me  at  a  country  village,  a  mile 
from  Gravesend,  hunting  after  runaway  mariners,  and 
dragging  in  the  mire  from  alehouse  to  alehouse,  and 
could  get  no.  paper.'  On  the  6th  he  was  at  Queen- 
borough,  on  the  13th  at  Dover,  whence  he  reports 
disaster  by  a  storm  on  Goodwin  Sands,  and  finally  on 
the  21st  he  arrived  at  Plymouth.  His  last  letters  are 
full  of  recommendations  of  personal  friends  to  appoint- 
ments in  the  gift  or  at  the  command  of  Sir  Robert 
Cecil.  He  brought  with  him  to  Plymouth  two  of 
Bacon's  cousins,  the  Cookes,  and  his  own  wife's  brother, 
Arthur  Throckmorton.  Unfortunately,  just  as  the  fleet 
was  starting,  the  last-mentioned,  '  a  hot-headed  youth,' 
in  presence  not  only  of  the  four  generals,  but  of  the 
commanders  of  the  Dutch  contingent  also,  took  Raleigh's 
side  in  some  dispute  at  table  so  intemperately  and  loudly 
that  he  was  dismissed   from  the   service.     This   must 


Cjdiz  91 

have  been  singularly  annoying  to  Raleigh,  who  never- 
theless persuaded  his  colleagues,  no  doubt  on  receipt  of 
due  apology,  to  restore  the  young  man  to  his  rank,  and 
allow  him  to  proceed.  At  Cadiz,  Throckmorton  fought 
so  well  that  Essex  himself  knighted  him. 

The  generals  had  other  troubles  at  Plymouth.  The 
men  that  Ealeigh  had  pressed  along  the  coast  hated 
their  duty,  and  some  of  them  had  to  be  tried  for  deser- 
tion and  mutiny.  Before  the  fleet  got  under  way, 
two  men  were  publicly  hanged,  to  encourage  the  others, 
*  on  a  very  fair  and  pleasant  green,  called  the  Hoe.' 
At  last,  on  June  1,  the  squadrons  put  to  sea.  Contrary 
winds  kept  them  within  Plymouth  Sound  until  the  3rd. 
On  the  20th  they  anchored  in  the  bay  of  St.  Sebastian, 
half  a  league  to  the  westward  of  Cadiz.  The  four  English 
divisions  of  the  fleet  contained  in  all  ninety-three  vessels, 
and  the  Dutch  squadron  consisted  of  twenty-four  more. 
There  were  about  15,500  men,  that  is  to  say  2,600 
Dutchmen,  and  the  rest  equally  divided  between  English 
soldiers  and  sailors. 

The  events  of  the  next  few  days  were  not  merely  a 
crucial  and  final  test  of  the  relative  strength  of  Spain 
and  England,  closing  in  a  brilliant  triumph  for  the 
latter,  but  to  Raleigh  in  particular  they  were  the  climax 
of  his  life,  the  summit  of  his  personal  prosperity  and 
glory.  The  records  of  the  battle  of  Cadiz  are  ex- 
ceedingly numerous,  and  were  drawn  up  not  by 
English  witnesses  only,  but  by  Dutch  and  Spanisli 
historians  also.  Mr.  Edwards  has  patiently  collected 
them  all,  and  he  gives  a  very  minute  and  lucid  account 
of  their  various  divergencies.  Of  them  all  the  most  full 
and  direct   is   that   given  by  Raleigh  himself,  in  his 


92  Raleigh 

Relation  of  the  Action  in  Cadiz  Harbour,  first  published 
in  1699.  In  a  biography  of  Raleigh  it  seems  but 
reasonable  to  view  such  an  event  as  this  from  Raleigh's 
own  standpoint,  and  the  description  which  now  follows 
is  mainly  taken  from  the  Relation.  The  joint  fleet 
paused  where  the  Atlantic  beats  upon  the  walls  of  Cadiz, 
and  the  Spanish  President  wrote  to  Philip  II.  that  they 
seemed  afraid  to  enter.  He  added  that  it  formed  la 
mas  liermosa  armada  que  se  ha  visto,  the  most  beautiful 
fleet  that  ever  was  seen  ;  and  that  it  was  French  as  well 
as  English  and  Dutch,  which  was  a  mistake. 

Raleigh's  squadron  was  not  part  of  the  fleet  that 
excited  the  admiration  of  Gutierrez  Flores.  On  the  19th 
he  had  been  detached,  in  the  words  of  his  instructions, 
*  with  the  ships  under  his  charge,  and  the  Dutch 
squadron,  to  anchor  near  the  entrance  of  the  harbour, 
to  take  care  that  the  ships  riding  near  Cadiz  do  not 
escape,'  and  he  took  up  a  position  that  commanded 
St.  Lucar  as  well  as  Cadiz.  He  was  *not  to  fight, 
except  in  self-defence,'  without  express  instructions. 
At  the  mouth  of  St.  Lucar  he  found  some  great  ships, 
but  they  lay  so  near  shore  that  he  could  not  approach 
them,  and  finally  they  escaped  in  a  mist,  Raleigh  very 
nearly  running  his  own  vessel  aground.  Meanwhile 
Essex  and  Charles  Howard,  a  little  in  front  of  him, 
came  to  the  conclusion  in  his  absence  that  it  would  be 
best  to  land  the  soldiers  and  assault  the  town,  without 
attempting  the  Spanish  fleet. 

Two  hours  after  this  determination  had  been  arrived 
at,  much  to  the  dismay  of  many  distinguished  persons  in 
the  fleet  whose  position  did  not  permit  them  to  expostu- 
late, Raleigh  arrived  to  find  Essex  in  the  very  act  of  dis- 


Cadiz  93 

embarking  his  soldiers.  There  was  a  great  sea  on  from  the 
south,  and  some  of  the  boats  actually  sank  in  the  waves, 
but  Essex  nevertheless  persisted,  and  was  about  to  effect 
a  landing  west  of  the  city.  Raleigh  came  on  board  the 
*  Repulse,'  '  and  in  the  presence  of  all  the  colonels  pro- 
tested against  the  resolution,'  showing  Essex  from  his 
own  superior  knowledge  and  experience  that  by  acting 
in  this  way  he  was  running  a  risk  of  overthrowing  '  the 
whole  armies,  their  own  lives,  and  her  Majesty's  future 
safety.'  Essex  excused  himself,  and  laid  the  responsi- 
bility on  the  Lord  Admiral. 

Raleigh  having  once  dared  to  oppose  the  generals, 
he  received  instant  moral  support.  All  the  other  com- 
manders and  gentlemen  present  clustered  round  him 
and  entreated  him  to  persist.  Essex  now  declared 
himself  convinced,  and  begged  Raleigh  to  repeat  his 
arguments  to  the  Lord  Admiral.  Raleigh  passed  on  to 
Howard's  ship,  '  The  Ark  Royal,'  and  by  the  evening 
the  Admiral  also  was  persuaded.  Returning  in  his 
boat,  as  he  passed  the  '  Repulse '  Raleigh  shouted  up  to 
Essex  '  Intramus,'  and  the  impetuous  Earl,  now  as  eager 
for  a  fight  by  sea  as  he  had  been  a  few  hours  before  for 
a  fight  by  land,  flung  his  hat  into  the  sea  for  joy,  and 
prepared  at  that  late  hour  to  weigh  anchor  at  once. 

It  took  a  good  deal  of  time  to  get  the  soldiers  out  of 
the  boats,  and  back  into  their  respective  ships.  Essex, 
whom  Raleigh  seems  to  hint  at  under  the  cautious 
word  'many,'  '  seeming  desperately  valiant,  thought  it  a 
fault  of  mine  to  put  off  [the  attack]  till  the  morning  ; 
albeit  we  had  neither  agreed  in  what  manner  to  fight, 
nor  appointed  who  should  lead  and  who  should  second, 
whether   by   boarding  or   otherwise.'     Raleigh,  in  his 


94  Raleigh  ** 

element  when  rapid  action  was  requisite,  passed  to  and 
fro  between  the  generals,  and  at  last  from  his  own  ship 
wrote  a  hasty  letter  to  the  Lord  Admiral,  giving  his 
opinion  as  to  the  best  way  to  arrange  the  order  of  battle, 
and  requesting  him  to  supply  a  couple  of  great  fly-boats 
to  attack  each  of  the  Spanish  galleons,  so  that  the 
latter  might  be  captured  before  they  were  set  on  fire. 

Essex  and  Howard  were  completely  carried  away  by 
Raleigh's  vehement  counsels.  The  Lord  Admiral  had 
always  shown  deference  to  Raleigh's  nautical  science,  and 
the  Earl  was  captivated  by  the  qualities  he  could  best 
admire,  courage  and  spirit  and  rapidity.  Raleigh's  old 
faults  of  stubbornness  and  want  of  tact  abandoned  him 
at  this  happy  moment.  His  graceful  courtesy  to  Essex, 
his  delicacy  in  crossing  dangerous  ground,  won  praise 
even  from  his  worst  enemies,  the  satellites  of  Essex.  It 
was  Raleigh's  blossoming  hour,  and  all  the  splendid 
gifts  and  vigorous  charms  of  his  brain  and  character 
expanded  in  the  sunrise  of  victory.  Late  in  the  busy 
evening  of  the  20th,  the  four  leaders  held  a  final  council 
of  war,  amiably  wrangling  among  themselves  for  the 
post  of  danger.  At  last  the  others  gave  way  to  what 
Raleigh  calls  his  '  humble  suit,'  and  it  was  decided  that 
he  should  lead  the  van.  Essex,  Lord  Howard  of 
Effingham,  and  the  Vice- Admiral,  Lord  Thomas  Howard, 
were  to  lead  the  body  of  the  fleet ;  but  it  appeared  next 
morning  that  the  Vice-Admiral  had  but  seemed  to  give 
way,  and  that  his  ambition  was  still  to  be  ahead  of  Raleigh 
himself.  As  Raleigh  returned  to  sleep  on  board  the 
'War  Sprite,'  the  town  of  Cadiz  was  all  ablaze  with 
lamps,  tapers,  and  tar  barrels,  while  there  came  faintly 
out  to  the  ears  of  the  English  sailors  a  murmur  of  wild 
festal  music. 


Cadiz  95 

Next  day  was  the  21st  of  June.  As  Mr.  St.  Jolin 
pleasantly  says,  '  that  St.  Barnabas'  Day,  so  often  the 
brightest  in  the  year,  was  likewise  the  brightest  of 
Raleigh's  life.'  At  break  of  day,  the  amazed  inhabitants 
of  Cadiz,  and  the  sailors  who  had  caroused  all  night  on 
shore  and  now  hurried  on  board  the  galleons,  watched 
the  magnificent  squadron  sweep  into  the  harbour  of 
their  city.  First  came  the  ^  War  Sprite  '  itself;  next 
the  '  Mary  Rose,'  commanded  by  Sir  George  Carew ; 
then  Sir  Francis  Yere  in  the  '  Rainbow,'  carrying  a 
sullen  heart  of  envy  with  him  ;  then  Sir  Robert  Southwell 
in  the  *  Lion,'  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  in  the  '  Dreadnought,' 
and  lastly,  as  Raleigh  supposed,  Robert  Dudley  (after- 
wards Duke  of  Northumberland,  and  a  distinguished 
author  on  naval  tactics)  in  the  ^,  Nonparilla.'  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Yice- Admiral,  hoping  to  contrive  to 
push  in  front,  had  persuaded  Dudley  to  change  ships 
with  him.  These  six  vessels  were  well  in  advance  of 
all  the  rest  of  the  fleet.  In  front  of  them,  ranged  under 
the  wall  of  Cadiz,  were  seventeen  galleys  lying  with 
their  prows  to  flank  the  English  entrance,  as  Raleigh 
ploughed  on  towards  the  galleons.  The  fortress  of  St. 
Philip  and  other  forts  along  the  wall  began  to  scour 
the  channel,  and  with  the  galleys  concentrated  their 
fire  upon  the  '  War  Sprite.'  But  Raleigh  disdained  to 
do  more  than  salute  the  one  and  then  the  other  with 
a  contemptuous  blare  of  trumpets.  'The  "  St.  Philip," 
he  says,  *  the  great  and  famous  Admiral  of  Spain,  was 
the  mark  I  shot  at,  esteeming  those  galleys  but  as  wasps 
in  respect  of  the  powerfulness  of  the  others.' 

The  '  St.  Philip '  had  a  special  attraction  for  him. 
It  was  six  years  since  his  dear  friend  and  cousin,  Sir 


96  Raleigh 

Eichard  Grenville,  under  the  lee  of  the  Azores,  with  one 
little  ship,  the  ^  Revenge,'  had  been  hemmed  in  and 
crushed  by  the  vast  fleet  of  Spain,  and  it  was  the  '  St. 
Philip  '  and  the  '  St.  Andrew '  that  had  been  foremost 
in  that  act  of  murder.  Now  before  Raleigh  there  rose 
the  same  lumbering  monsters  of  the  deep,  that  very 
*  St.  Philip  '  and  '•  St.  Andrew  '  which  had  looked  down 
and  watched  Sir  Richard  Grenville  die,  *  as  a  true  soldier 
ought  to  do,  fighting  for  his  country,  queen,  religion, 
and  honour.'  It  seems  almost  fabulous  that  the  hour 
of  pure  poetical  justice  should  strike  so  soon,  and  that 
Raleigh  of  all  living  Englishmen  should  thus  come  face 
to  face  with  those  of  all  the  Spanish  tyrants  of  the  deep. 
As  he  swung  forward  into  the  harbour  and  saw  them 
there  before  him,  the  death  of  his  kinsman  in  the 
Azores  was  solemnly  present  to  his  memory,  '  and  being 
resolved  to  be  revenged  for  the  "  Revenge,"  or  to  second 
her  with  his  own  life,'  as  he  says,  he  came  to  anchor 
close  to  the  galleons,  and  for  three  hours  the  battle  with 
them  proceeded. 

It  began  by  the  '  War  Sprite '  being  in  the  centre 
and  a  little  to  the  front ;  on  the  one  side,  the  '  Non- 
parilla,'  in  which  Raleigh  now  perceived  Lord  Thomas 
Howard,  and  the  '  Lion ; '  on  the  other  the  '  Mary  Rose ' 
and  the  '  Dreadnought ; '  these,  with  the  *  Rainbow '  a 
little  farther  off,  kept  up  the  fight  alone  until  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning ;  waiting  for  the  fly-boats,  which  were 
to  board  the  galleons,  and  which,  for  some  reason  or 
other,  did  not  arrive.  Meanwhile,  Essex,  excited 
beyond  all  restraint  by  the  volleys  of  culverin  and 
cannon,  slipped  anchor,  and  passing  from  the  body  of 
the  fleet,  lay  close  up  to  the  *  War  Sprite,'  pushing 


Cadiz  97 

the  *  Dreadnouglit '  on  one  side.  Raleigh,  seeing  him 
coming,  went  to  meet  him  in  his  skiff,  and  begged  him 
to  see  that  the  fly-boats  were  sent,  as  the  battery  was 
beginning  to  be  more  than  his  ships  could  bear.  The 
Lord  Admiral  was  following  Essex,  and  Raleigh  passed 
on  to  him  with  the  same  entreaty.  This  parley  between 
the  three  commanders  occupied  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

Meanwhile,  the  men  second  in  command  had  taken 
an  unfair  advantage  of  Raleigh's  absence.  He  hurried 
back  to  find  that  the  Vice-Admiral  had  pushed  the 
*  Nonparilla  '  ahead,  and  that  Sir  Francis  Vere,  too,  in 
the  ^  Rainbow,'  had  passed  the  '  War  Sprite.'  Finding 
himself, '  from  being  the  first  to  be  but  the  third,'  Raleigh 
skilfully  thrust  in  between  these  two  ships,  and  threw 
himself  in  front  of  them  broadside  to  the  channel,  so 
that,  as  he  says,  '  I  was  sure  no  one  should  outstart  me 
again,  for  that  day.'  Finally,  Essex  and  Lord  Thomas 
Howard  took  the  next  places.  Sir  Francis  Yere,  the 
marshal,  who  seems  to  have  been  mad  for  precedence, 
'while  we  had  no  leisure  to  look  behind  us,  secretly 
fastened  a  rope  on  my  ship's  side  toward  him,  to  draw 
himself  up  equally  with  me ;  but  some  of  my  company 
advertising  me  thereof,  I  caused  it  to  be  cut  ofi*,  and  so 
he  fell  back  into  his  place,  whom  I  guarded,  all  but  his 
very  prow,  from  the  sight  of  the  enemy.'  In  his 
Commentaries  Yere  has  his  revenge,  and  carefully  dis- 
parages Raleigh  on  every  occasion. 

For  some  reason  or  other,  the  fly-boats  continued  to 
delay,  and  Raleigh  began  to  despair  of  them.  What 
he  now  determined  to  do,  and  what  revenge  he  took  for 
Sir  Richard  Grenville,  may  best  be  told  in  his  own 
vigorous  language : 


98  Raleigh 

Having  no  hope  of  my  fly-boats  to  board,  and  the  Earl 
and  my  Lord  Thomas  having  both  promised  to  second  me, 
I  laid  out  a  warp  by  the  side  of  the  '  Philip '  to  shake  hands 
with  her — for  with  the  wind  we  could  not  get  aboard ; 
which  when  she  and  the  rest  perceived,  finding  also  that  the 
'  Repulse,'  seeing  mine,  began  to  do  the  like,  and  the  rear- 
admiral  my  Lord  Thomas,  they  all  let  slip,  and  ran  aground, 
tumbling  into  the  sea  heaps  of  soldiers,  as  thick  as  if  coals 
had  been  poured  out  of  a  sack  in  many  ports  at  once,  some 
drowned  and  some  sticking  in  the  mud.  The  '  Philip  '  and 
the  '  St.  Thomas '  burned  themselves  ;  the  *  St.  Matthew  * 
and  the  '  St.  Andrew '  were  recovered  by  our  boats  ere  they 
could  get  out  to  fire  them.  The  spectacle  was  very  lament- 
able on  their  side,  for  many  drowned  themselves,  many, 
half-burned,  leaped  into  the  water  ;  very  many  hanging  by 
the  ropes'  end,  by  the  ships'  side,  under  the  water  even  to 
the  lips  ;  many  swimming  with  grievous  wounds,  stricken 
under  water,  and  put  out  of  their  pain  ;  and  withal  so  huge 
a  fire,  and  such  tearing  of  the  ordnance  in  the  great  '  Philip ' 
and  the  rest,  when  the  fire  came  to  them,  as,  if  a  man  had  a 
desire  to  see  Hell  itself,  it  was  there  most  lively  figured. 
Ourselves  spared  the  lives  of  all,  after  the  victory,  but  the 
Flemings,  who  did  little  or  nothing  in  the  fight,  used 
merciless  slaughter,  till  they  were  by  myself,  and  after- 
wards by  my  Lord  Admiral,  beaten  off. 

The  official  report  of  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia  to 
Philip  II.  does  not  greatly  differ  from  this,  except  that 
he  says  that  the  English  set  fire  to  the  '  St.  Philip.* 
Before  the  fight  was  over  Raleigh  received  a  very  serious 
flesh  wound  in  the  leg,  '  interlaced  and  deformed  with 
splinters,'  which  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  get  on 
horseback.  He  was,  therefore,  to  his  great  disappoint- 
ment, unable  to  take  part  in  Essex's  land-attack  on  the 


Cadiz  99 

town.  He  could  not,  however,  bear  to  be  left  behind, 
and  in  a  litter  he  was  carried  into  Cadiz.  He  could 
only  stay  an  hour  on  shore,  however,  for  the  agony  in 
his  leg  was  intolerable,  and  in  the  tumultuous  disorder 
of  the  soldiers,  who  were  sacking  the  town,  there  was 
danger  of  his  being  rudely  pushed  and  shouldered.  He 
went  back  to  the  *  War  Sprite '  to  have  his  wound 
dressed  and  to  sleep,  and  found  that  in  the  general 
rush  on  shore  his  presence  in  the  fleet  was  highly 
desirable. 

Early  next  morning,  feeling  eased  by  a  night's  rest, 
he  sent  on  shore  to  ask  leave  to  follow  the  fleet  of  forty 
carracks  bound  for  the  Indies,  which  had  escaped  down 
the  Puerto  Real  river ;  this  navy  was  said  to  be  worth 
twelve  millions.  In  the  confusion,  however,  there  came 
back  no  answer  from  Essex  or  Howard.  A  ransom  of 
two  millions  had  meanwhile  been  offered  for  them,  but 
this  also,  in  the  absence  of  his  chiefs,  Raleigh  had  no 
power  to  accept.  While  he  was  thus  uncertain,  the 
Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia  solved  the  difficulty  on  June 
23,  by  setting  the  whole  flock  of  helpless  and  treasure- 
laden  carracks  on  fire.  From  the  deck  of  the  '  War 
Sprite'  Raleigh  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  the 
smoke  of  this  priceless  argosy  go  up  to  heaven.  The 
waste  had  been  great,  for  of  all  the  galleons,  carracks, 
and  frigates  of  which  the  great  Spanish  navy  had  con- 
sisted, only  the  *  St.  Matthew '  and  the  '  St.  Andrew ' 
had  come  intact  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  The 
Dutch  sailors,  who  held  back  until  the  fight  was  decided, 
sprang  upon  the  blazing  *  St.  Philip,'  and  saved  a  great 
part  of  her  famous  store  of  ordnance ;  while,  as  Raleigh 
pleasantly  puts  it,  Hhe  two  Apostles  aforesaid'  were 
10 


loo  Raleigh 

richly  furnislied,  and  made  an  agreeable  prize  to  bring 
back  to  England. 

The  English  generals,  engaged  in  sacking  the 
palaces  and  razing  the  fortifications  of  Cadiz,  were 
strangely  indifferent  to  the  anxieties  of  their  friends  at 
home.  In  England  the  wildest  rumours  passed  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  but  it  was  a  fortnight  before  anyone 
on  the  spot  thought  it  necessary  to  communicate  with 
the  Home  Government.  It  is  said  that  Raleigh's  letter 
to  Cecil,  written  ten  leagues  to  the  west  of  Cadiz,  on 
July  7,  and  carried  to  England  by  Sir  Anthony  Ashley, 
contained  the  first  intimation  of  the  victory.  In  this 
letter  Raleigh  is  careful  to  do  himself  justice  with  the 
Queen,  and  to  claim  a  complete  pardon  on  the  score  of 
services  so  signal,  for  it  was  already  patent  to  him  that 
on  a  field  where  every  man  that  would  be  helped  must 
help  himself,  his  wounded  leg  had  shut  him  out  of  all 
hope  of  plunder.  The  cause  of  his  standing  so  far  as  ten 
leagues  away  from  shore  was  that  an  epidemic  had 
broken  out  on  board  his  ship.  It  proved  impossible  to 
cope  with  this  disease,  and  so  it  was  determined  that 
on  August  1  the  ^  War  Sprite '  should  return  to  England, 
in  company  with  the  ^  Roebuck '  and  the  ^  John  and 
Francis.'  On  the  sixth  day  they  arrived  in  Plymouth, 
and  Raleigh  found  that,  although  seven  weeks  had 
elapsed  since  the  victory,  no  authentic  account  of  it  had 
hitherto  reached  the  Council.  He  was  not  well,  and  in- 
stead of  posting  up  to  London,  where  he  easily  perceived 
he  would  not  be  welcome,  he  asked  pardon  for  staying 
with  his  ship.  On  August  12  he  landed  at  Weymouth, 
and  passed  home  to  Sherborne.  The  rest  of  the  fleet 
came  back  later  in  the  autumn,  and  Essex,  as  he  passed 


Cadiz  ioi 

the  coast  of  Portugal,  swooped  down  upon  tlie  famous 
library  of  the  Bishop  of  Algarve,  which  he  presented  on 
his  return  to  Sir  Thomas  Bodley.  The  Bodleian  Library 
at  Oxford  is  now  the  chief  existing  memorial  of  that 
glorious  expedition  to  Cadiz  which  shattered  the  naval 
strength  of  Spain. 

As  to  prize-money,  there  proved  to  be  very  little  of 
it  for  the  captors.  It  was  understood  that  the  Lord 
Admiral  was  to  have  5,000Z.,  Essex  as  much,  and 
Raleigh  3,000Z. ;  but  Essex,  in  his  proud  way,  waived 
his  claim  in  favour  of  the  Queen,  just  in  time  to  escape 
spoliation,  for  Elizabeth  claimed  everything.  Her 
scandalous  avarice  had  grown  upon  her  year  by  year, 
and  now  in  her  old  age  her  finer  and  more  generous 
qualities  were  sapped  by  her  greed  for  money.  Even 
her  political  acumen  had  failed  her ;  she  was  unable  to 
see,  in  her  vexation  at  the  loss  of  the  Indian  carracks, 
that  the  blow  to  Spain  had  been  one  which  relieved 
her  of  a  constant  and  immense  anxiety.  She  deter- 
mined that  no  one  should  be  the  richer  or  the  nobler 
for  a  victory  which  had  resulted  in  the  destruction  of 
so  much  treasure  which  might  have  flowed  into  her 
coffers.  Deeply  disappointed  at  the  Queen's  surly  in- 
gratitude, Raleigh,  whom  she  still  refused  to  see,  retired 
for  the  next  nine  months  into  absolute  seclusion  at 
Sherborne. 

In  his  retirement  Raleigh  continued  to  remember 
that  his  function  was,  as  Oldys  put  it,  ^  by  his  extra- 
ordinary undertakings  to  raise  a  gi'ove  of  laurels,  in  a 
manner  out  of  the  seas,  that  should  overspread  our 
island  with  glory.'  In  October  1596  he  was  pre- 
paring for   his   third   expedition  to  Guiana,  which  he 


102  Raleigh 

placed  under  tlie  command  of  Captain  Leonard  Berrie. 
This  navigator  was  absent  until  the  summer  of  the 
following  year,  when  he  returned,  not  having  penetrated 
to  Manoa,  but  confirming  with  an  almost  obsequious 
report  Ealeigh's  most  golden  dreams.  It  is  at  this 
time,  after  his  return  from  Cadiz,  that  we  find  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh's  name  mentioned  most  lavishly  by  the 
literary  classes  in  their  dedications  and  eulogistic  ad- 
dresses. Whether  his  popularity  was  at  the  same  time 
high  with  the  general  public  is  more  easily  asserted 
than  proved,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  victory  at 
Cadiz  was  highly  appreciated  by  the  mass  of  English- 
men, and  it  is  not  possible  but  that  Raleigh's  prominent 
share  in  it  should  be  generally  recognised. 

On  January  24, 1597,  Raleigh  wrote  from  Sherborne 
a  letter  of  sympathy  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  on  the  death 
of  his  wife.  It  is  interesting  as  displaying  Raleigh's 
intimacy  with  the  members  of  a  family  which  was 
henceforth  to  hold  a  prominent  place  in  the  chronicle 
of  his  life,  since  it  was  Henry  Brooke,  Lady  Cecil's 
brother,  who  became,  two  months  later,  at  the  death  of 
his  father.  Lord  Cobham.  It  was  he  and  his  brother 
George  Brooke  who  in  1603  became  notorious  as  the 
conspirators  for  Arabella  Stuart,  and  who  dragged 
Raleigh  down  with  them.  We  do  not  know  when 
Raleigh  began  to  be  intimate  with  the  Brookes,  and  it 
is  just  at  this  time,  when  his  fortunes  had  reached  their 
climacteric,  and  when  it  would  be  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance to  us  to  follow  them  closely,  that  his  personal 
history  suddenly  becomes  vague.  If  Cecil's  letters  to 
him  had  been  preserved  we  should  know  more.  As  it 
is  we  can  but  record  certain  isolated  facts,  and  make  as 


Cadiz  103 

much  use  of  them  as  we  can  venture  to  do.  In  May- 
ISO  7,  nearly  five  years  after  his  expulsion,  we  find  him 
received  again  at  Court.  Rowland  White  says,  *  Sir 
"Walter  Raleigh  is  daily  in  Court,  and  a  hope  is  had 
that  he  shall  be  admitted  to  the  execution  of  his  ofiice 
as  Captain  of  the  Guard,  before  he  goes  to  sea.' 

Cecil  and  Howard  of  Efiingham  had  obtained  this 
return  to  favour  for  their  friend,  and  Essex,  although  his 
momentary  liking  for  Raleigh  had  long  subsided,  did 
not  oppose  it.  He  could  not,  however,  be  present  when 
Timias  was  taken  back  into  the  arms  of  his  pardoning 
Belphoebe.  On  June  1,  the  Earl  of  Essex  rode  down  jto 
Chatham,  and  during  his  absence  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
was  conducted  by  Cecil  into  the  presence  of  the  Queen. 
She  received  him  very  graciously,  and  immediately  au- 
thorised him  to  resume  his  office  of  Captain  of  the  Guard. 
Without  loss  of  time,  Raleigh  filled  up  the  vacancies  in 
the  Guard  that  very  day,  and  spent  the  evening  riding 
with  her  Majesty.  Next  morning  he  made  his  appear- 
ance in  the  Privy  Chamber  as  he  had  been  wont  to  do, 
and  his  return  to  favour  was  complete.  Essex  showed, 
and  apparently  felt,  no  very  acute  chagrin.  He  was 
busy  in  planning  another  expedition  against  Spain,  and 
he  needed  Raleigh's  help  in  arranging  for  the  victualling 
of  the  land  forces.  In  July  all  jealousies  seemed  laid 
aside,  and  the  gossips  of  the  Court  reported,  ^  None  but 
Cecil  and  Raleigh  enjoy  the  Earl  of  Essex,  they  carry 
him  away  as  they  list.' 

It  lies  far  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  biography  to 
discuss  the  obscure  question  of  ^  the  conceit  oi  Richard  the 
Second '  with  which  these  three  amused  themselves  just 
before  the  Islands  Voyage  began.  The  bare  facts  are  these. 


I04  Raleigh 

On  July  6,1597,  Raleigli  wrote  to  Cecil  from  Weymoutli 
about  the  preparations  for  the  expedition,  and  added :  ^  I 
acquainted  the  Lord  General  [Essex]  with  your  letter  to 
me,  and  your  kind  acceptance  of  your  entertainment ; 
he  was  also  wonderful  merry  at  your  conceit  of  Richard 
the  Second.  I  hope  it  shall  never  alter,  and  whereof 
I  shall  be  most  glad  of,  as  the  true  way  to  all  our  good, 
quiet,  and  advancement,  and  most  of  all  for  His  sake 
whose  affairs  shall  thereby  find  better  progression/ 
From  this  it  would  seem  as  though  Cecil  had  ofiered  a 
dramatic  entertainment  to  Essex  and  Raleigh  on  their 
leaving  town.  This  entertainment  evidently  consisted 
of  Shakespeare's  new  tragedy,  then  being  performed  at 
the  Globe  Theatre  and  to  be  entered  for  publication 
just  a  month  later.  When  this  play  was  printed  it  did 
not  contain  what  is  called  the  '  Deposition  Scene,'  but 
it  would  appear  that  this  was  given  on  the  boards  at  the 
time  when  Raleigh  refers  to  it.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  in  1601  the  lawyers  accused  Essex  of  having 
feasted  his  eyes  beforehand  with  a  show  of  the  dethrone- 
ment of  his  liege  ;  but  Raleigh's  words  do  not  suggest 
any  direct  disloyalty. 

Raleigh  was  in  a  state  of  considerable  excitement  at 
the  prospect  of  the  new  expedition.  Cecil  wrote,  ^  Good 
Mr.  Raleigh  wonders  at  his  own  diligence,  as  if  dili- 
gence and  he  were  not  familiars  ;'  and  the  fact  that 
Raleigh  would  sometimes  write  twice  and  thrice  to  him 
in  one  day,  and  on  a  single  occasion  at  least,  four  times, 
proves  that  Cecil  had  a  right  to  use  this  mild  sarcasm. 
Several  months  before,  Raleigh  had  attempted  by  his 
manifesto  entitled  The  Spanish  Alarum  to  stir  up  the 
Government  to  be  in  full  readiness  to  guard  against  a 


Cadiz  105 

revengeful  invasion  of  England  by  her  old  enemy.  He 
had  thought  out  the  whole  situation,  he  had  planned  the 
defences  of  England  by  land  and  sea,  and  his  new 
favour  at  Court  had  enabled  him  to  put  pressure  on  the 
royal  parsimony,  and  to  insist  that  things  should  be  done 
as  he  saw  fit.  He  was  perfectly  right  in  thinking  that 
Philip  II.  would  rather  suffer  complete  ruin  than  not 
try  once  more  to  recover  his  position  in  Europe,  but  he 
saw  that  the  late  losses  at  Cadiz  would  force  the 
Catholic  king  to  delay  his  incursion,  and  he  counselled  a 
rapid  and  direct  second  attack  on  Spain.  As  soon  as  ever 
he  was  restored  to  power,  he  began  to  victual  a  fleet  of 
ten  men-of-war  with  biscuit,  beef,  bacon,  and  salt  fish, 
and  to  call  for  volunteers.  As  the  scheme  seized  the 
popular  mind,  however,  it  gathered  in  extent,  and  it 
was  finally  decided  to  fit  up  three  large  squadrons,  with 
a  Dutch  contingent  of  twelve  ships.  These  vessels  met 
in  Plymouth  Sound. 

On  the  night  of  Sunday,  July  10,  the  fleet  left 
Plymouth,  and  kept  together  for  twenty-four  hours. 
On  the  morning  of  the  12th,  after  a  night  of  terrific 
storm,  Raleigh  found  his  squadron  of  four  ships  parted 
from  the  rest,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  day  only 
one  vessel  beside  his  own  was  in  sight.  This  tempest 
was  immortalised  in  his  earliest  known  poem  by  John 
Donne,  who  was  in  the  expedition,  and  was  described  by 
Raleigh  as  follows : 

The  storm  on  Wednesday  grew  more  forcible,  and  the 
seas  grew  very  exceeding  lofty,  so  that  myself  and  the 
Bonaventure  had  labour  enough  to  beat  it  up.  But  the 
night  following,  the  Thursday,  Friday,  and  Saturday,  the 
storm  so  increased,  the  ships  were  weighty,  the  ordnance 


io6  Raleigh 

great,  and  the  billows  so  raised  and  enraged,  that  we  could 
carry  out  no  sail  which  to  our  judgment  would  not  have 
been  rent  off  the  yards  by  the  wind  ;  and  yet  our  ships 
rolled  so  vehemently,  and  so  disjointed  themselves,  that  we 
were  driven  either  to  force  it  again  with  our  courses,  or  to 
sink.  In  my  ship  it  hath  shaken  all  her  beams,  knees,  and 
stanchions  well  nigh  asunder,  in  so  much  on  Saturday  night 
last  we  made  account  to  have  yielded  ourselves  up  to  God. 
For  we  had  no  way  to  work,  either  by  trying,  hauling,  or 
driving,  that  promised  better  hope,  our  men  being  worsted 
with  labour  and  watchings,  and  our  ship  so  open  every- 
where, all  her  bulkheads  rent,  and  her  very  cook-room  of 
brick  shaken  down  into  powder. 

Such  were  the  miseries  of  navigation  in  the  palmy 
days  of  English  adventure  by  sea.  The  end  of  it  was 
that  about  thirty  vessels  crept  back  to  Falmouth  and 
Tor  Bay,  some  were  lost  altogether,  and  Raleigh,  with 
the  remainder,  found  harbour  on  July  18  at  Plymouth. 
For  a  month  they  lay  there,  recovering  their  forces,  and 
Essex,  whose  own  ship  was  at  Falmouth,  came  over  to 
Plymouth  and  was  Raleigh's  guest  on  the  '■  War  Sprite.' 
Raleigh  writes  to  Cecil :  ^I  should  have  taken  it  unkindly 
if  my  Lord  had  taken  up  any  other  lodging  till  the  "Lion  '* 
come :  and  now  her  Majesty  may  be  sure  his  Lordship 
shall  sleep  somewhat  the  sounder,  though  he  fare  the 
worse,  by  being  with  me,  for  I  am  an  excellent  watch- 
man at  sea.'  In -this  same  letter,  dated  July  26,  1597, 
the  fatal  name  of  Cobham  first  appears  in  the  corre- 
spondence of  Raleigh :  '  I  pray  vouchsafe,'  he  says,  '  to 
remember  me  in  all  affection  to  my  Lord  Cobham.' 

On  August  18,  in  the  face  of  a  westerly  wind,  the 
fleet  put  out  once  more  from  Plymouth.     In  the  Bay  of 


Cadiz  107 

Biscay  tlie  '  St.  Andrew'  and  tlie  '  St.  Matthew  *  were 
disabled,  and  had  to  be  left  behind  at  La  Kochelle.  Off 
the  coast  of  Portugal,  Kaleigh  himself  had  a  serious 
accident,  for  his  mainyard  snapped  across,  and  he  had 
to  put  in  for  help  by  the  Kock  of  Lisbon,  in  company 
with  the  '  Dreadnought.'  Essex  left  a  letter  saying 
that  Raleigh  must  follow  him  as  fast  as  he  could  to  the 
Azores,  and  on  September  8  the  ^  War  Sprite  '  came  in 
view  of  Ter^eira.  On  the  15th  Ealeigh's  squadron  joined 
the  main  fleet  under  Essex  at  Flores. 

The  distress  of  the  voyage  and  its  separations  had 
told  upon  the  temper  of  Essex,  while  he  was  surrounded 
by  those  who  were  eager  to  poison  his  mind  with  suspicion 
of  Raleigh.     When  the  latter  dined  with  Essex  in  the 
'  Repulse'  on  the  15th,  the  Earl  with  his  usual  impul- 
siveness  made  a  clean  breast  of  his  '  conjectures  and 
surmises,'  letting  Raleigh  know  the  very  names  of  those 
scandalous  and  cankered  persons  who  had  ventured  to 
accuse  him,  and  assuring  him   that   he  rejected  their 
counsel.     On  this  day  or  the  next  a  pinnace  from  India 
brought  the  news  that  the  yearly  fleet  was  changing  its 
usual   course,  and  would  arrive  farther   south   in  the 
Azores.     A  council  of  war  was  held  in  the  '  Repulse,' 
and  it  was  resolved  to  divide  the  archipelago  among  the 
commanders.     Fayal   was  to  be  taken  by  Essex   and 
Raleigh,  Graciosa  by  Howard  and  Yere,  San  Miguel  by 
Mountjoy  and  Blount,  while  Pico,  with  its  famous  wines, 
was  left  for  the  Dutchmen.     Essex  sailed  first,  and  left 
Raleigh  taking  in  provisions  at  Flores,  where  he  dined 
in  a  small  inland  town  with  his  old  acquaintance  Lord 
Grey,  and  others,    including    Sir  Arthur    Gorges,  the 
minute  historian  of  the  expedition.     About  midnight, 


io8  Raleigh 

when  they  were  safe  in  their  ships  again,  Captain 
Arthur  Champemowne,  Ealeigh's  kinsman,  arrived  with 
a  letter  from  Essex  desiring  Raleigh  to  come  over  to 
Fajal  at  once,  and  complete  his  supplies  there.  "With 
his  usual  promptitude,  he  started  instantly,  and  soon 
outstripped  Essex. 

When  Raleigh  arrived  in  the  great  harbour  of  Fayal, 
the  peaceful  look  of  everything  assured  him  in  a  moment 
that  Essex  had  not  yet  been  heard  of.  But  no  sooner 
did  the  inhabitants  perceive  the  ^  War  Sprite '  and  the 
*  Dreadnought,'  than  they  began  to  throw  up  defences 
and  remove  their  valuables  into  the  interior.  It  was  in 
the  highest  degree  irksome  to  Raleigh  to  wait  thus 
inactive,  while  this  handsome  Spanish  colony  was 
slipping  from  his  clutch,  but  he  had  been  forbidden  to 
move  without  orders.  After  three  days'  waiting  for 
Essex,  a  council  of  war  was  held  on  board  the  '  War 
Sprite.'  On  the  fourth  Raleigh  leaped  into  his  barge 
at  the  head  of  a  landing  company,  refusing  the  help  of 
the  Flemings  who  were  with  him,  and  stormed  the  cliffs. 
It  was  comparatively  easy  to  get  his  troops  on  shore, 
but  the  Spaniards  contested  the  road  to  the  town  inch 
by  inch.  At  last  Raleigh  and  his  four  hundred  and 
fifty  men  routed  their  opponents  and  entered  Fayal,  a 
town  '  full  of  fine  gardens,  orchards,  and  wells  of  delicate 
waters,  with  fair  streets,  and  one  very  fair  church ; '  and 
allowed  his  men  to  plunder  it.  The  English  soldiers 
slept  that  night  in  Fayal,  and  when  they  woke  next 
morning  they  saw  the  tardy  squadron  of  Essex  come 
warping  into  the  harbour  at  last.  Sir  Gilly  Meyrick, 
the  bitterest  of  the  parasites  of  Essex,  slipped  into  a 
boat  and  was  on  board  the  '  Repulse '  as  soon  as  she 
anchored,  reporting  Raleigh's  conduct  to  the  Earl. 


Cadiz  109 

Ealelgli  must  liave  known  that  Essex  was  not  the 
man  to  be  pleased  at  a  feat  whicli  took  all  the  credit  of 
the  Islands  Voyage  out  of  his  hands ;  but  he  feigned 
unconsciousness.  In  his  barge  he  came  out  from  Fayal 
to  greet  the  Earl,  and  entered  the  General's  cabin. 
After  a  faint  welcome,  Essex  began  to  reproach  him 
with  '  a  breach  of  Orders  and  Articles,'  and  to  point  out 
to  him  that  in  capturing  Fayal  without  authority  he 
had  made  himself  liable  to  the  punishment  of  death. 
Ealeigh  replied  that  he  was  exempt  from  such  orders, 
being,  in  succession  to  Essex  and  Lord  Howard,  him- 
self commander  of  the  whole  fleet  by  the  Queen's  letters 
patent.  After  a  dispute  of  half  an  hour,  Essex  seemed 
satisfied,  and  accepted  an  invitation  to  sup  with  Ealeigh 
on  shore.  But  another  malcontent.  Sir  Christopher 
Blount,  obtained  his  ear,  and  set  his  resentment  blazing 
once  more.  Essex  told  Ealeigh  he  should  not  sup  at 
all  that  night.  Ealeigh  left  the  ^Eepulse,'  and  pre- 
pared to  separate  his  squadron  from  the  fleet,  lest  an 
attempt  should  be  made  to  force  him  to  undergo  the 
indignity  of  a  court-martial.  Howard  finally  made 
peace  between  the  two  commanders,  and  Ealeigh  was 
induced  to  give  some  sort  of  apology  for  his  action. 

The  fleet  proceeded  to  St.  Miguel,  when  Ealeigh  was 
left  to  watch  the  roadstead,  while  Essex  pushed  inland. 
While  Ealeigh  lay  here,  a  great  Indian  carrack  of 
sixteen  hundi^ed  tons,  laden  with  spices,  knowing 
nothing  of  the  English  invasion,  blundered  into  the 
middle  of  what  she  took  to  be  a  friendly  Spanish  fleet. 
She  perceived  her  mistake  just  in  time  to  run  herself 
ashore,  and  disembark  her  crew.  Ealeigh  at  the  head 
of  a  party  of  boats  attempted  to  seize  her,  but  her 


no  Raleigh 

commander  set  heron  fire,  and  when  the  Englishmen  came 
close  to  her  she  was  one  dangerous  splendour  of  flaming 
perfumes  and  roaring  cannon.  Raleigh  was  more  fortu- 
nate in  securing  another  carrack  laden  with  cochineal  from 
Cuba.  The  rest  of  the  Islands  Voyage  was  uneventful 
and  ill-managed.  For  some  time  nothing  was  heard  of 
the  fleet  in  England,  and  Lady  Raleigh  ^  skrebbled,'  as 
she  spelt  it,  hasty  notes  to  Cecil  begging  for  news  of 
her  husband.  Early  in  October  he  came  back  to 
England,  seriously  enfeebled  in  health.  The  only  one 
of  the  commanders  who  gained  any  advantage  from  the 
Islands  Voyage  was  the  one  who  had  undertaken  least, 
Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  who  wa3  raised  to  the 
earldom  of  Nottingham. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LAST   DAYS   OF  ELIZABETH. 

A  SLIGHT  anecdote,  whicli  is  connected  with  the  month 
of  January  1598,  must  not  be  omitted  here.  It  gives 
us  an  impression  of  the  personal  habits  of  Raleigh  at 
this  stage  of  his  career.  It  was  the  custom  of  the 
Queen  to  go  to  bed  early,  and  one  winter's  evening  the 
Earl  of  Southampton,  Raleigh,  and  a  man  named  Parker 
were  playing  the  game  of  primero  in  the  Presence 
Chamber,  after  her  Majesty  had  retired.  They  laughed 
and  talked  rather  loudly,  upon  which  Ambrose  Wil- 
loughby,  the  Esquire  of  the  Body,  came  out  and  desired 
them  not  to  make  so  much  noise.  Raleigh  pocketed 
his  money,  and  went  off,  but  Southampton  resented  the 
interference,  and  in  the  scuffle  that  ensued  Willoughby 
pulled  out  a  handful  of  those  marjoram-coloured  curls 
that  Shakespeare  praised. 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  why  it  was,  that  in  the  obscure 
year  1598,  while  the  star  of  Essex  was  setting,  that  of 
his  natural  rival  did  not  burn  more  brightly.  But 
although  now,  and  for  the  brief  remainder  of  Elizabeth's 
life,  Raleigh  was  nominally  in  favour,  the  saturnine  old 
woman  had  no  longer  any  tenderness  for  her  Captain  of 
the  Guard.  Her  old  love,  her  old  friendship,  had  quite 
passed  away.  There  was  no  longer  any  excuse  for 
11 


112  Raleigh 

excluding  from  her  presence  so  valuable  a  soldier  and  so 
wise  a  courtier,  but  her  pulses  had  ceased  to  thrill  at 
his  coming.  If  Essex  had  been  half  so  courteous,  half 
BO  assiduous  as  Raleigh,  she  would  have  opened  her 
arms  to  him,  but  she  had  offended  Essex  past  for- 
giveness, and  his  tongue  held  no  parley  with  her.  It 
must  have  been  in  Raleigh's  presence — for  he  it  is  who 
has  recorded  it  in  the  grave  pages  of  his  Prerogative  of 
Parliament — that  Essex  told  the  Queen  ^  that  her  con- 
ditions were  as  crooked  as  her  carcass,'  a  temble  speech 
which,  as  Raleigh  says,  '  cost  him  his  head.'  This  was 
perhaps  a  little  later,  in  1600.  In  1598  these  cruel 
squabbles  were  already  making  life  at  Court  a  misery. 
The  Queen  kept  Raleigh  by  her,  but  would  give  him 
nothing.  In  January  he  applied  for  the  post  of  Vice- 
chamberlain,  but  without  success.  The  new  earl,  Lord 
Nottingham,  could  theatrically  wipe  the  dust  from 
Raleigh's  shoes  with  his  cloak,  but  when  Raleigh  him- 
self desired  to  be  made-  a  peer,  in  the  spring  of  1598,  he 
was  met  with  a  direct  refusal.  He  would  fain  have 
been  Lord  Deputy  in  Ireland,  but  the  Queen  declined 
to  spare  him.  On  the  last  day  of  August  he  was  in 
the  very  act  of  being  eworn  on  the  Privy  Council,  but 
at  the  final  moment  Cecil  frustrated  this  by  saying 
that  if  he  were  made  a  councillor,  he  must  resign  his 
Captainship  of  the  Guard  to  Sir  George  Carew.  This 
was,  as  Cecil  was  aware,  too  great  a  sacrifice  to  be 
thought  of,  and  the  hero  of  Cadiz  and  Fayal,  foiled  on 
every  hand,  had  to  submit  to  remain  plain  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  Knight. 

As  the  breach  grew  between  Essex  and  the  Queen, 
the  temper  of  the  former  grew  more  surly.     He  droppe(5 


Last  Days  of  Elizabeth        -      113 

the  semblance  of  civility  to  Raleigh.  In  his  ApotJiegms, 
Lord  Bacon  has  preserved  an  amusing  anecdote  of 
November  17,  1598.  On  this  day,  which  was  the 
Queen's  sixty-fifth  birthday,  the  leading  courtiers,  as 
usual,  tilted  in  the  ring  in  honour  of  their  Liege  ;  the 
custom  of  this  piece  of  mock  chivalry  demanded  that 
each  knight  should  be  disguised.  It  was,  however, 
known  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  would  ride  in  his  own 
uniform  of  orange  tawny  medley,  trimmed  with  black 
budge  of  lamb's  wool.  Essex,  to  vex  him,  came  to  the 
lists  with  a  body-guard  of  two  thousand  retainers  all 
dressed  in  orange  tawny,  so  that  Raleigh  and  his  men 
should  seem  a  fragment  of  the  great  Essex  following. 
The  story  goes  on  to  show  that  Essex  digged  a  pit  and 
fell  into  it  himself;  but  enough  has  been  said  to  prove 
his  malignant  intention.  We  have  little  else  but  anec- 
dotes with  which  to  fill  up  the  gap  in  Raleigh's  career 
between  December  1597  and  March  1600.  This  was  an 
exceedingly  quiet  period  in  his  life,  during  which  we 
have  to  fancy  him  growing  more  and  more  at  enmity 
with  Essex,  and  more  and  more  intimate  with  Cobham. 
In  September  1598,  an  unexpected  ally,  the  Duke 
of  Finland,  urged  Raleigh  to  undertake  once  more  his 
attempt  to  colonise  Guiana,  and  offered  twelve  ships  as 
his  own  contingent.  Two  months  later  we  find  that 
the  hint  has  been  taken,  and  that  Sir  John  Gilbert  is 
'  preparing  with  all  speed  to  make  a  voyage  to  Guiana.' 
It  is  said,  moreover,  that  *  he  intendeth  to  inhabit  it 
with  English  people.'  He  never  started,  however,  and 
Raleigh,  referring  long  afterwards  to  the  events  of  these 
years,  said  that  though  Cecil  seemed  to  encourage  him 
in  his  West  Indian  projects,  yet  that  when  it  came  to 


1 14  Raleigh 

the  point  lie  always,  as  Raleigh  quaintly  put  it,  retired 
into  his  back-shop.  Meanwhile,  the  interest  felt  in 
Ealeigh's  narrative  was  increasing,  and  in  1599  the 
well-known  geographer  Levinus  Hulsius  brought  out 
in  Nuremburg  a  Latin  translation  of  the  Discovery,  with 
five  curious  plates,  including  one  of  the  city  of  Manoa, 
and  another  of  the  Ewaipanoma,  or  men  without  heads. 
The  German  version  of  the  book  and  its  English  reprint 
in  Hakluyt's  Navigations  belong  to  the  same  year.  Also 
in  1599,  the  Discovery  was  reproduced  in  Latin,  German, 
and  Trench  by  De  Bry  in  the  eighth  part  of  his  celebrated 
Collectiones  Peregrinationum.  This  year,  then,  in  which 
we  hardly  hear  otherwise  of  Raleigh,  marked  the  height 
of  his  success  as  a  geographical  writer.  So  absolutely 
is  the  veil  drawn  over  his  personal  history  at  this  time 
that  the  only  facts  we  possess  are,  that  on  November  4 
Raleigh  was  lying  sick  of  an  ague,  and  that  on  December 
13  he  was  still  ill. 

In  the  middle  of  March  1600  Sir  Walter  and  Lady 
Raleigh  left  Durham  House  for  Sherborne,  taking  with 
them,  as  a  playmate  for  their  son  Walter,  Sir  Robert 
Cecil's  eldest  son,  William,  afterwards  the  second  Earl 
of  Salisbury.  On  the  way  down  to  Dorsetshire,  they 
stopped  at  Sion  House  as  the  guests  of  the  '  Wizard  * 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  a  life-long  friend  of  Raleigh's, 
and  presently  to  be  his  most  intelligent  fellow-prisoner 
in  the  Tower.  From  Sherborne,  Raleigh  wrote  on  the 
6th  of  April  saying  frankly  that  if  her  Majesty  persisted 
in  excluding  him  from  every  sort  of  preferment,  '  I  must 
begin  to  keep  sheep  betime.'  He  hinted  in  the  same 
letter  that  he  would  accept  the  Governorship  of  Jersey, 
which  was  expected  to  fall  vacant.     The  friendship  with 


Last  Days  of  Elizabeth  115 

Lord  Cobham  lias  now  become  quite  ardent,  and  Lady 
Raleigb  vies  with  her  husband  in  urging  him  to  pay 
Sherborne  a  visit.  Later  on  in  April  the  Raleighs  went 
to  Bath  apparently  for  no  other  reason  than  to  meet 
Cobham  there.  Here  is  a  curious  note  from  Raleigh  to 
the  most  dangerous  of  his  associates,  written  from  Bath 
on  April  29,  1600: 

Here  we  attend  you  and  have  done  this  sevennight,  and 
we  still  mourn  your  absence,  the  rather  because  we  fear  that 
your  mind  is  changed.  I  pray  let  us  hear  from  you  at 
least,  for  if  you  come  not  we  will  go  hereby  home,  and  make 
but  short  tarrying  here.  My  wife  will  despair  ever  to  see 
you  in  these  parts,  if  your  Lordship  come  not  now.  We  can 
but  long  for  you  and  wish  you  as  our  own  Uves  whatsoever. 
Your  Lordship's  everest  faithful,  to  honour  you  most, 

W.  Ralegh. 

Raleigh's  absence  from  Court  was  so  lengthy,  that  it 
was  whispered  in  the  early  summer  that  he  was  in 
disgrace,  that  the  Queen  had  called  him  *  something 
worse  than  cat  or  dog,'  namely,  ^  fox.'  The  absurdity  of 
this  was  proved  early  in  July  by  his  being  hurriedly 
called  to  town  to  accompany  Cobham  and  Northumber- 
land on  their  brief  and  fruitless  visit  to  Ostend.  The 
friends  started  from  Sandwich  on  July  11,  and  were 
received  in  the  Low  Countries  by  Lord  Grey;  they 
were  entertained  at  Ostend  with  extraordinary  respect, 
but  they  gained  nothing  of  political  or  diplomatic  value. 
Affairs  in  Ireland,  connected  with  the  Spanish  invasion, 
occupied  Raleigh's  mind  and  pen  during  this  autumn, 
but  he  paid  no  visit  to  his  Munster  estates.  There 
were  plots  and  counterplots  developing  in  various  parts  of 
these  islands  in  the  autumn  of  1600,  but  with  none  of 


ii6  Raleigh 

these  subterranean  activities  is  Raleigh  for  the  present 
to  be  identified. 

"When  Sir  Anthony  Paulet  died,  on  August  26, 
1600,  Raleigh  had  the  satisfaction  of  succeeding  him 
in  the  Governorship  of  Jersey.  He  had  asked  for  the 
reversion  of  this  post,  and  none  could  be  found  more 
appropriate  to  his  powers  or  circumstances.  It  gave 
him  once  more  the  opportunity  to  cultivate  his  restless 
energy,  to  fly  hither  and  thither  by  sea  and  land,  and 
to  harry  the  English  Channel  for  Spaniards  as  a  terrier 
watches  a  haystack  for  rats.  Weymouth,  which  was 
the  English  postal  port  for  Jersey,  was  also  the  natural 
harbour  of  Sherborne,  and  Raleigh  had  been  accustomed, 
as  it  was,  to  keep  more  than  one  vessel  there.  The 
appointment  in  Jersey  was  combined  with  a  gift  of  the 
manor  of  St.  Germain  in  that  island,  but  the  Queen 
thought  it  right,  in  consideration  of  this  present,  to 
strike  off  three  hundred  pounds  from  the  Governor's 
salary.  Cecil  was  Raleigh's  guest  at  Sherborne  when 
the  appointment  was  made,  and  Raleigh  waited  until 
he  left  before  starting  for  his  new  charge ;  all  this  time 
young  William  Cecil  continued  at  Sherborne  for  his 
health.  At  last,  late  in  September,  Sir  Walter  and 
Lady  Raleigh  went  down  to  Weymouth,  and  took  with 
them  their  little  son  Walter,  now  about  six  years  old.  The 
day  was  very  fine,  and  the  mother  and  son  saw  the  new 
Governor  on  board  his  ship.  He  was  kept  at  sea  forty- 
eight  hours  by  contrary  winds,  but  reached  Jersey  at 
last  on  an  October  morning. 

Raleigh  wrote  home  to  his  wife  that  he  never  saw  a 
pleasanter  island  than  Jersey,  but  protested  that  it  was 
not  in  value  the  very  third  part  of  what  had  been  reported. 


Last  Days   of  Elizabeth  117 

One  of  his  first  visits  was  to  the  castle  of  Mont  Orgueil, 
which  had  been  rebuilt  seven  years  before.  His  inten- 
tion had  been  to  destroy  it,  but  he  was  so  much  struck 
with  its  stately  architecture  and  commanding  position 
that  he  determined  to  spare  it,  and  in  fact  he  told  off 
a  detachment  of  his  men  then  and  there  to  guard  it. 
Kaleigh's  work  in  Jersey  was  considerable.  While  he 
remained  governor,  he  established  a  trade  between  the 
island  and  Newfoundland,  undertook  to  register  real 
property  according  to  a  definite  system,  abolished  the 
unpopular  compulsory  service  of  the  Corps  de  Garde,  and 
lightened  in  many  directions  the  fiscal  burdens  which 
previous  governors  had  laid  on  the  population.  Raleigh's 
beneficent  rule  in  Jersey  lasted  just  three  years. 

While  he  was  absent  on  this  his  first  visit  to  the 
island.  Lady  Raleigh  at  Sherborne  received  news  from 
Cecil  of  the  partial  destruction  of  Durham  House  by  a 
fire,  which  had  broken  out  in  the  old  stables.  None  of 
the  Raleigh  valuables  were  injured,  but  Lady  Raleigh 
suggests  that  it  is  high  time  something  were  definitely 
settled  about  property  in  this  '  rotten  house,'  which  Sir 
Walter  was  constantly  repairing  and  improving  without 
possessing  any  proper  lease  of  it.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
when  the  crash  came,  Durham  House  was  the  first  of 
his  losses.  Early  in  November  1600,  Raleigh  was  in 
Cornwall,  improving  the  condition  of  the  tin-workers, 
and  going  through  his  duties  in  the  Stannaries  Court  of 
Lostwithiel.  We  find  him  protecting  private  enterprise 
on  Roborough  Down  against  the  borough  of  Plymouth, 
which  desired  to  stop  the  tin-works,  and  the  year  closes 
with  his  activities  on  behalf  of  the  'establishment  of 
good  laws  among  tinners.' 


ii8  Raleigh 

The  first  two  months  of  1601  were  occupied  with 
the  picturesque  tragedy  of  Essex's  trial  and  execution. 
It  seems  that  Raleigh  was  at  last  provoked  into  open 
enmity  by  the  taunts  and  threats  of  the  Lord  Marshal. 
Among  the  strange  acts  of  Essex,  none  had  been  more 
strange  than  his  extraordinary  way  of  complaining,  like 
a  child,  of  anyone  who  might  displease  him.  In  his 
letter  to  the  Queen  on  June  25,  1599,  he  openly  named 
Raleigh  and  Cobham  as  his  enemies  and  the  enemies  of 
England ;  not  reflecting  that  both  of  these  personages 
were  in  the  Queen's  confidence,  and  that  he  was  out 
of  it.  We  may  presume  that  it  was  more  than  Raleigh 
could  bear  to  be  shown  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Queen 
in  which  Essex  deliberately  accused  him  of  '  wishing 
the  ill  success  of  your  Majesty's  most  important  action, 
the  decay  of  your  greatest  strength,  and  the  destruction 
of  your  faithfullest  servants.'  There  were  some  things 
Raleigh  could  not  forgive,  and  the  accusation  that  he 
favoured  Spain  was  one  of  these.  Shut  up  among  his 
creatures  in  his  house  in  the  Strand,  and  refused  all 
communication  with  Elizabeth,  Essex  thought  no 
accusation  too  libellous  to  spread  against  the  trio  who 
held  the  royal  ear,  against  Raleigh,  Cecil,  and  Cobham, 
whose  daggers,  he  said,  were  thirsting  for  his  blood. 

It  was  probably  in  the  summer  of  1600  that  Raleigh 
wrote  the  curious  letter  of  advice  to  Cecil  which  forms 
the  only  evidence  we  possess  that  he  had  definitely  come 
to  the  decision  that  Essex  must  die.  His  language 
admits  of  no  doubt  of  his  intention.     He  says : 

If  you  take  it  for  a  good  counsel  to  relent  towards  this 
tyrant,  you  will  repent  it  when  it  shall  be  too  late.  His 
malice  is  fixed,  and  will  not  evaporate  by  any  of  your  mild 


Last  Days,  of  Elizabeth  119 

courses.  For  he  will  ascribe  the  alteration  to  her  Majesty's 
pusillanimity  and  not  to  your  good  nature,  knowing  that 
you  work  but  upon  her  humour,  and  not  out  of  any  love 
towards  him.  The  less  you  make  him,  the  less  he  shall  be 
able  to  harm  you  and  yours  ;  and  if  her  Majesty's  favour  fail 
him,  he  will  again  decline  to  a  common  person.  For  after- 
revenges,  fear  them  not,  for  your  own  father  was  esteemed 
to  be  the  contriver  of  Norfolk's  ruin,  yet  his  son  followeth 
your  father's  son  and  loveth  him. 

This  advice  has  been  stigmatised  as  worse  than  un- 
generous. It  was,  at  all  events,  extremely  to  the  point, 
and  it  may  be  suggested  that  for  Raleigh  and  Cecil  the 
time  for  showing  generosity  to  Essex  was  past.  They 
took  no  overt  steps,  however,  but  it  is  plain  that  they 
kept  themselves  informed  of  the  mad  meetings  that  went 
on  in  Essex  House.  On  the  morning  before  the  insur- 
rection was  to  break  out,  February  18, 1601,  Raleigh  sent 
a  note  to  his  kinsman.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  who  was 
one  of  Essex's  men,  to  come  down  to  Durham  House  to 
speak  with  him.  Gorges,  startled  at  the  message, 
consulted  Essex,  who  advised  him  to  say  that  he  would 
meet  Raleigh,  not  at  Durham  House,  but  half-way,  on 
the  river.  Raleigh  assented  to  this,  and  came  alone, 
while  Gorges,  with  two  other  gentlemen,  met  him. 
Raleigh  told  his  cousin  that  a  warrant  was  out  to  seize 
him,  and  advised  him  to  leave  London  at  once  for 
Plymouth.  Gorges  said  it  was  too  late,  and  a  long  con- 
versation ensued,  in  the  course  of  which  a  boat  was  seen 
to  glide  away  from  Essex  stairs  and  to  approach  them. 
Upon  this  Gorges  pushed  Raleigh's  boat  away,  and  bid 
him  hasten  home.  As  he  rowed  off  towards  Durham 
House,  four  shots  from  the  second  boat  missed  him ;  it 


1 20  Raleigh 

had  been  manned  by  Sir  Christoplier  Blount,  who,  with 
three  or  four  servants  of  Essex,  had  come  out  to  capture 
or  else  kill  Kaleigh. 

For  this  treason  Blount  asked  and  obtained  Raleigh's 
•pardon  a  few  days  later,  on  the  scaffold.  At  the  last 
moment  of  his  life,  Essex  also  had  desired  to  speak  with. 
Raleigh,  having  already  solemnly  retracted  the  accusa- 
tions he  had  made  against  him ;  but  it  is  said  that  this 
message  of  peace  was  not  conveyed  to  Raleigh  until  it 
was  too  late.  According  to  Raleigh's  own  account,  he 
had  been  standing  near  the  scaffold,  on  purpose  to  see 
whether  Essex  would  address  him,  and  had  retired  because 
he  was  not  spoken  to.     His  words  in  1618  were  these : 

It  is  said  I  was  a  persecutor  of  my  Lord  of  Essex  ;  that 
I  puffed  out  tobacco  in  disdain  when  he  was  on  the  scaffold. 
But  I  take  God  to  witness  I  shed  tears  for  him  when  he 
died.  I  confess  I  was  of  a  contrary  faction,  but  I  knew  he 
was  a  noble  gentleman.  Those  that  set  me  up  against  him, 
did  afterwards  set  themselves  against  me. 

Raleigh  was  accused  of  barbarity  by  the  adherents 
of  Essex,  but  there  is  nothing  to  rebut  the  testimony 
of  one  of  his  own  greatest  enemies,  Blount,  who  con- 
fessed, a  few  minutes  before  he  died,  that  he  did  not 
believe  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  intended  to  assassinate  the 
Earl,  nor  that  Essex  himself  feared  it,  ^  only  it  was  a 
word  cast  out  to  colour  other  matters.'  We  are  told 
that  Raleigh  suffered  from  a  profound  melancholy  as  he 
was  rowed  back  from  the  Tower  to  Durham  House  after 
the  execution  of  Essex,  and  that  it  was  afterwards 
believed  that  he  was  visited  at  that  time  by  a  presenti- 
ment of  his  own  dreadful  end. 

During  the  summer  of  1601,  Raleigh  became  in- 


Last  Days  of  Euzabeth  121 

volved  in  a  vexatious  quarrel  between  certain  of  his  own 
Dorsetshire  servants.  The  man  Meeres,  whom  he  had 
appointed  as  bailiff  of  the  Sherborne  estates  nine  years 
before,  after  doing  trusty  service  to  his  master,  had 
gradually  become  aggressive  and  mutinous.  He  disliked 
the  presence  of  Adrian  Gilbert,  Raleigh's  brother,  who 
had  been  made  Constable  of  Sherborne  Castle,  and  who 
overlooked  Meeres  on  all  occasions.  There  began  to  be 
constant  petty  quarrels  between  the  bailiff  of  the  manor 
and  the  constable  of  the  castle,  and  when  Raleigh  at 
last  dismissed  the  former  bailiff  and  appointed  another, 
Meeres  put  himself  under  the  protection  of  an  old  enemy 
of  Raleigh's,  Lord  Thomas  Howard,  now  Lord  Howard 
of  Bindon,  and  refused  to  quit.  In  the  month  of 
August,  Meeres  audaciously  arrested  the  rival  bailiff, 
whereupon  Raleigh  had  Meeres  himself  put  in  the  stocks 
in  the  market-place  of  Sherborne.  The  town  took 
Raleigh's  side,  and  when  Meeres  was  released,  the 
people  riotously  accompanied  him  to  his  house,  with 
derisive  cries.  When  Raleigh  was  afterward  attainted, 
Meeres  took  all  the  revenge  he  could,  and  succeeded  in 
making  himself  not  a  little  offensive  to  Lady  Raleigh. 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  letters  testify  to  the  great  annoyance 
this  man  gave  him.  It  appears  that  Meeres'  wife,  '  a 
broken  piece,  but  too  good  for  such  a  knave,'  was  a  kins- 
woman of  Lady  Essex,  and  the  most  curious  point  is 
that  Raleigh  thought  that  Meeres  was  trained  to  forge 
his  handwriting.     He  tells  Cecil : 

The  Earl  did  not  make  show  to  like  Meeres,  nor  admit 
him  to  his  presence,  but  it  was  thought  that  secretly  he 
meant  to  have  used  him  for  some  mischief  against  me  ;  and, 
if  Essex  had  prevailed,  he  had  been  used  as  the  counterfeiter, 


122  Raleigh 

for  he  writes  my  hand  so  perfectly  that  I  cannot  any  way 
discern  the  difference.^ 

Meeres  was  ready  in  the  law,  and  during  the  month 
of  September  sent  twenty-six  subpoenas  down  to 
Sherborne.  But  on  October  3  he  was  subdued  for  the 
time  being,  and  wrote  to  Cecil  from  his  prison  in  the 
Gatehouse  that  he  was  very  sorry  for  what  he  had  said 
so  *  furiously  and  foolishly '  about  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
and  begged  for  a  merciful  consideration  of  it.  He  was 
pardoned,  but  he  proved  a  troublesome  scoundrel  then 
and  afterwards. 

Early  in  September  1601,  Raleigh  came  up  on 
business  from  Bath  to  London,  meaning  to  return  at 
once,  but  found  himself  unexpectedly  called  upon  to 
stay  and  fulfil  a  graceful  duty.  Henry  IV.  of  France, 
being  at  Calais,  had  sent  the  Due  de  Biron,  with  a 
retinue  of  three  hundred  persons,  to  pay  a  visit  of 
compliment  to  Elizabeth.  It  was  important  that  the 
French  favourite  should  be  well  received  in  England, 
but  no  one  expected  him  in  London,  and  the  Queen 
was  travelling.  Sir  Arthur  Savage  and  Sir  Arthur 
Gorges  were  the  Duke's  very  insufficient  escort,  until 
Raleigh  fortunately  made  his  appearance  and  did  the 
honours  of  London  in  better  style.  He  took  the  French 
envoys  to  Westminster  Abbey,  and,  to  their  greater 
satisfaction,  to  the  Bear  Garden.  The  Queen  was  now 
staying,  as  the  guest  of  the  Marquis  of  Winchester,  at 
Basing,  and  so,  on  September  9,  Raleigh  took  the 
Duke   and   his   suite   down  to  the  Vine,  a  house   in 

*  In  a  letter  Raleigh  goes  still  further,  and  says  that  he  found 
Meeres,  ♦  coming  suddenly  upon  him,  counterfeiting  my  hand  above 
a  hundred  times  upon  an  oiled  paper.' 


Last  Days  of  Elizabeth  123 

Hampshire,  where  he  was  royally  entertained.  The 
Queen  visited  them  here,  and  on  the  12th  they  all  came 
over  to  stay  with  her  at  Basing  Park.  By  the  Queen's 
desire,  Ealeigh  wrote  to  Cobham,  who  had  stayed  at 
Bath,  to  come  over  to  Basing  and  help  to  entertain 
the  Frenchmen ;  he  added,  that  in  three  or  four  days 
the  visit  would  be  over,  and  he  and  Cobham  could  go 
back  to  Bath  together.  The  letters  of  Raleigh  display 
an  intimate  friendship  between  Lord  Cobham  and  him- 
self which  is  not  to  be  overlooked  in  the  light  of  coming 
events.  The  French  were  all  dressed  in  black,  a  colour 
Raleigh  did  not  possess  in  his  copious  wardrobe,  so  that 
he  had  to  order  the  making  of  a  black  taffeta  suit  in  a 
hurry,  to  fetch  which  from  London  he  started  back  late 
on  Saturday  night  after  bringing  the  Duke  safe  down 
to  Basing.  It  was  on  the  next  day,  if  the  French 
ambassador  said  true,  that  he  had  the  astounding  con- 
versation with  Elizabeth  about  Essex,  at  the  end  of 
which,  after  railing  against  her  dead  favourite,  she 
opened  a  casket  and  produced  the  very  skull  of  Essex. 
The  subject  of  the  fall  of  favourites  was  one  in  which 
Biron  should  have  taken  the  keenest  interest.  Ten 
months  later  he  himself,  abandoned  by  his  king,  came 
to  that  frantic  death  in  front  of  the  Bastille  which 
Chapman  presented  to  English  readers  in  the  most 
majestic  of  his  tragedies.  The  visit  to  Elizabeth 
occupies  the  third  act  of  Byro7is  Consjnracy,  which, 
published  in  1608,  contains  of  course  no  reference  to 
Raleigh's  part  on  that  occasion. 

It  may  be  that  in  the  autumn  of  1601,  James  of 
Scotland  first  became  actively  cognisant   of  Raleigh's 
existence.      Spain    was   once   more   giving   Elizabeth 
12 


1 24  Raleigh 

anxiety,  and  threatening  an  invasion  wliicli  actually 
took  place  on  September  21,  at  Kinsale.  By  means 
of  the  spies  which  he  kept  in  the  Channel,  Raleigh  saw 
the  Spanish  fleet  advancing,  and  warned  the  Govern- 
ment, though  his  warnings  were  a  little  too  positive  in 
pointing  out  Cork  and  Limerick  as  the  points  of  attack. 
Meanwhile,  he  wrote  out  for  the  Queen's  perusal  a  State 
paper  on  The  Bangers  of  a  Spanish  Faction  in  Scotland. 
This  paper  has  not  been  preserved,  but  the  rumour  of  its 
contents  is  supposed  to  have  frightened  James  in  his 
correspondence  with  Rome,  and  to  have  made  him  judge 
it  prudent  to  offer  Elizabeth  three  thousand  Scotch 
troops  against  the  invader.  Raleigh's  casual  remarks 
with  regard  to  Irish  affairs  at  this  critical  time,  as  we 
find  them  in  his  letters  to  Cecil,  are  not  sympathetic  or 
even  humane,  and  there  is  at  least  one  passage  which 
looks  very  much  like  a  licensing  of  assassination ;  yet 
it  is  certain  that  Raleigh,  surveying  from  his  remote 
Sherborne  that  Munster  which  he  knew  so  well,  took  in 
the  salient  features  of  the  position  with  extraordinary 
success.  In  almost  every  particular  he  showed  himself 
a  true  prophet  with  regard  to  the  Irish  rising  of  1601. 

In  November  the  Duke  of  Lennox  came  somewhat 
hastily  to  London  from  Paris,  entrusted  with  a  very 
delicate  diplomatic  commission  from  James  of  Scotland 
to  Elizabeth.  It  is  certain  that  he  saw  Raleigh  and 
Cobham,  and  that  he  discussed  with  them  the  thorny 
question  of  the  succession  to  the  English  throne.  It 
moreover  appears  that  he  found  their  intentions 
^  traitorous  to  the  King,'  that  is  to  say  unfavourable  to 
the  candidature  of  James.  The  whole  incident  is  ex- 
ceedingly dark,  and  the  particulars  of  it  rest  mainly  on  a 


Last  Days  of  Elizabeth  125 

tainted  authority,  tliat  of  Lord  Henry  Howard.  It  may 
be  conjectured  that  what  really  happened  was  that  the 
Duke  of  Lennox,  learning  that  Raleigh  was  in  town, 
desired  Sir  Arthur  Savage  to  introduce  him ;  that  he 
then  suggested  a  private  conference,  which  was  first 
refused,  then  granted,  in  Cobham's  presence,  at  Durham 
House ;  that  Raleigh  refused  King  James's  offers,  and 
went  and  told  Cecil  that  he  had  done  so.  Cecil,  how- 
ever, chose  to  believe  that  Raleigh  was  keeping  some- 
thing back  from  him,  and  his  attitude  from  this  moment 
grows  sensibly  colder  to  Raleigh,  and  he  speaks  of 
Raleigh's  '  ingratitude,'  though  it  is  not  plain  what  he 
should  have  been  grateful  for  to  Cecil. 

It  was  now  thirteen  years  since  Raleigh  had  aban- 
doned the  hope  of  colonising  Virginia,  though  his 
thoughts  had  often  reverted  to  that  savage  country,  of 
which  he  was  the  nominal  liege  lord.  In  1602  he  made 
a  final  effort  to  assert  his  authority  there.  He  sent  out 
a  certain  Samuel  Mace,  of  whose  expedition  we  know 
little ;  and  about  the  same  time  his  nephew,  Bartholomew 
Gilbert,  with  an  experienced  mariner.  Captain  Gosnoll, 
went  to  look  for  the  lost  colony  and  city  of  Raleigh. 
These  latter  started  in  a  small  barque  on  March  26,  but 
though  they  enjoyed  an  interesting  voyage,  they  never 
touched  Virginia  at  all.  They  discovered  and  named 
Martha's  Vineyard,  and  some  other  of  the  islands  in  the 
same  group ;  then,  after  a  pleasant  sojourn,  they  came 
back  to  England,  and  landed  at  Exmouth  on  July  23. 
It  was  left  for  another  than  Raleigh,  while  he  was  im- 
poverished and  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  to  carry  out 
the  dream  of  Virginian  settlement.  Perhaps  the  most 
fortunate  thing  that  could  have  happened  to  Raleigh 


126  Raleigh 

would  have  been  for  him  to  have  personally  conducted 
to  the  West  this  expedition  of  1602.  To  have  been  out 
of  England  when  the  Queen  died  might  have  saved  him 
from  the  calumny  of  treason. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  Kaleigh  was  a  complete 
loser  by  these  vain  expeditions.  But  a  passage  in  a 
letter  of  August  21,  1602,  shows  us  that  this  was  not 
the  fact.  He  says  :  ^  Neither  of  them  spake  with  the 
people,'  that  is,  with  the  lost  Virginian  colonists,  '  but  I 
do  send  both  the  barques  away  again,  having  saved  the 
charge  in  sassafras  wood.'  From  the  same  letter  we 
find  that  Gilbert  and  GosnoU  went  off  without  Raleigh's 
leave,  though  in  his  ship  and  at  his  expense,  and  the 
latter  therefore  prays  that  his  nephew  may  be  stripped 
of  his  rich  store  of  sassafras  and  cedar  wood,  partly  in 
chastisement,  but  more  for  fear  of  overstocking  the 
London  market.  He  throws  Gilbei-t  over,  and  speaks 
angrily  of  him  not  as  a  kinsman,  but  as  '  my  Lord 
Cobham's  man  ; '  then  relents  in  a  postscript — *  oR  is 
confiscate,  but  he  shall  have  his  part  again.' 

Raleigh  was  feeble  in  health  and  irritable  in  temper 
all  this  time.  Lady  Raleigh,  with  a  woman's  instinct, 
tried  to  curb  his  ambition,  and  tie  him  down  to  Sher- 
borne. *  My  wife  says  that  every  day  this  place  amends, 
and  London,  to  her,  grows  worse  and  worse.'  Mean- 
while there  is  really  not  an  atom  of  evidence  to  show 
that  Raleigh  was  engaged  in  any  political  intrigue.  He 
spent  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1602,  when  he  was 
not  at  Sherborne,  in  going  through  the  round  of  his 
duties.  All  the  month  of  July  he  spent  in  Jersey, 
'  walking  in  the  wilderness,'  as  he  says,  hearing  from  no 
one,  and  troubled  in  mind  by  vague  rumours,  blown 


Last  Days  of  Elizabeth  127 

over  to  liim  from  Normandy,  of  the  disgrace  of  the  Due 
de  Biron.  He  is  also  '  much  pestered  with  the  coming 
of  many  Norman  gentlemen,  but  cannot  prevent  it.' 
On  August  9,  he  left  Jersey,  in  his  ship  the  '■  Antelope,* 
fearing  if  he  stayed  any  longer  to  exhaust  her  English 
stores,  and  get  no  more  '  in  this  poor  island.'  On  land- 
ing at  Weymouth  on  the  12th,  he  wrote  inviting  Cecil 
and  Northumberland  to  meet  him  at  Bath.  He  was 
justly  exasperated  to  find  that  during  his  absence 
Lord  Howard  of  Bindon  had  once  more  taken  up  the 
wicked  steward,  Meeres,  and  persuaded  Sir  William 
Peryam,  the  Chief  Baron  of  the  Exchequer,  to  try  the 
suit  again.     Raleigh  complains  to  Cecil : 

I  never  busied  myself  with  the  Lord  Viscount's  [Lord 
Bindon's]  wealth,  nor  of  his  extortions,  nor  poisoning  of  his 
wife,  as  is  here  avowed,  have  I  spoken.  I  have  foreborne 
.  .  .  but  I  will  not  endure  wrong  at  so  peevish  a  fool's 
hands  any  longer.  I  will  rather  lose  my  life,  and  I  think 
that  my  Lord  Puritan  Peryam  doth  think  that  the  Queen 
sliaU  have  more  use  of  rogues  and  villains  than  of  men,  or 
else  he  would  not,  at  Bindon's  instances,  have  yielded  to 
try  actions  against  me  being  out  of  the  land. 

The  vexation  was  a  real  one,  but  this  is  the  language 
of  a  petulant  invalid,  of  a  man  to  whom  the  grasshopper 
has  become  a  burden.  We  are  therefore  not  surprised 
to  find  him  at  Bath  on  September  15,  so  ill  that  he 
can  barely  write  a  note  to  Cecil  warning  him  of  the 
approach  of  a  Spanish  fleet,  the  news  of  which  has  just 
reached  him  from  Jersey.  He  grew  little  better  at 
Bath,  and  in  October  we  find  him  again  at  Sherborne, 
in  very  low  spirits,  sending  by  Cobham  to  the  Queen 
a  stone  which  Bartholomew  Gilbert  had  brought  from 


128  Raleigh 

America,  and  which  Kaleigh  took  to  be  a  diamond. 
Immediately  after  this,  he  set  out  on  what  he  calls  his 
^miserable  journey  into  Cornwall,'  no  other  than  his 
customary  autumn  circuit  through  the  Stannary  Courts. 
Once  he  had  enjoyed  these  bracing  rides  over  the  moors, 
but  his  animal  spirits  were  subdued,  and  the  cold 
mosses,  the  streams  to  be  forded,  the  dripping  October 
woods,  and  the  chilly  granite  judgment-seat  itself,  had 
lost  their  attraction  for  his  aching  joints.  In  November, 
however,  he  is  back  at  Sherborne,  restored  to  health, 
and  intending  to  linger  in  Dorsetshire  as  long  as  he  can, 
'  except  there  be  cause  to  hasten  me  up.' 

Meanwhile  he  had  paid  a  brief  visit  to  London,  and 
had  spoken  with  the  Queen,  as  it  would  appear,  for 
the  last  time.  Cecil,  who  was  also  present,  has  recorded 
in  a  letter  of  November  4  this  interview,  which  took 
place  the  previous  day.  On  this  last  occasion  Elizabeth 
sought  Raleigh's  advice  on  her  Irish  policy.  The  Presi- 
dent of  Munster  had  reported  that  he  had  seen  fit  to 
^  kill  and  hang  divers  poor  men,  women,  and  children 
appertaining'  to  Cormac  MacDermod  McCarthy,  Lord 
of  Muskerry,  and  to  burn  all  his  castles  and  villages 
from  Carrigrohan  to  Inchigeelagh.  Cecil  was  inclined  to 
think  that  severity  had  been  pushed  too  far,  and  that  the 
wretched  Cormac  might  be  left  in  peace.  But  Elizabeth 
had  long  been  accustomed  to  turn  to  Raleigh  for  advice 
on  her  Irish  policy.  He  gave,  as  usual,  his  unflinching 
constant  counsel  for  drastic  severity.  He  '  very  earnestly 
moved  her  Majesty  of  all  others  to  reject  Cormac  Mac- 
Dermod, first,  because  his  country  was  worth  her  keep- 
ing, secondly,  because  he  lived  so  under  the  eye  of  the 
State  that,  whensoever  she  would,  it  was  in  her  power  to 


Last  Days   of   Elizabeth  129 

suppress  him.'  This  last,  one  would  tliink,  might  have 
been  an  argument  for  mercy.  The  Queen  instructed 
Cecil  to  tell  Sir  George  Carew,  that  whatever  pardon 
was  extended  to  others,  none  might  be  shown  to  Cormac. 

It  was  in  the  same  spirit  of  rigour  that  llaleigh  had 
for  two  years  past  advised  the  retention  of  the  gentle 
and  learned  Florence  MacCarthy  in  the  Tower,  as  ^a  man 
reconciled  to  the  Pope,  dangerous  to  the  present  State, 
beloved  of  such  as  seek  the  ruin  of  the  realm;'  and 
this  at  the  very  time  when  MacCarthy,  trusting  in  his 
twenty  years'  acquaintance  with  Raleigh,  was  praying 
Cecil  to  let  him  be  his  judge.  Raleigh  little  thought 
that  the  doors  which  detained  Florence  MacCarthy  would 
soon  open  for  a  moment  to  inclose  himself,  and  that  in 
two  neighbouring  cells  through  long  years  of  captivity 
the  TLisiorxj  of  the  World  would  grow  beside  the  growing 
History  of  the  Early  Ages  of  Ireland. 

In  this  year,  1602,  Raleigh  parted  with  his  vast 
Irish  estates  to  Richard  Boyle,  afterwards  Earl  of  Cork, 
and  placed  the  purchase-money  in  privateering  enter- 
prises. It  is  known  that  Cecil  had  an  interest  in  this 
fleet  of  merchantmen,  and  as  late  as  January  1603  he 
writes  about  a  cruiser  in  which  Raleigh  and  he  were 
partners,  begging  Raleigh,  from  prudential  reasons,  to 
conceal  the  fact  that  Cecil  was  in  the  adventure.  There 
was  no  abatement  whatever  in  the  friendliness  of  Cecil's 
tone  to  Raleigh,  although  in  his  own  crafty  mind  he  had 
decided  that  the  death  of  the  Queen  should  set  the  term 
to  Raleigh's  prosperity.  On  March  30,  1603,  Elizabeth 
died,  and  with  her  last  breath  the  fortune  and  even  the 
personal  safety  of  Raleigh  expired. 

We  may  pause  here  a  moment  to  consider  what  was 


1 30  Raleigh 

Raleigh's  condition  and  fame  at  this  critical  point  in  his 
life.  He  was  over  fifty  years  of  age,  but  in  health  and 
spirits  much  older  than  his  time  of  life  suggested ;  his 
energy  had  shown  signs  of  abatement,  and  for  five  years 
he  had  done  nothing  that  had  drawn  public  attention 
strongly  to  his  gifts.  If  he  had  died  in  1603,  unattainted, 
in  peace  at  Sherborne,  it  is  a  question  whether  he  would 
have,  attracted  the  notice  of  posterity  in  any  very  general 
degree.  To  close  students  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  he 
would  still  be,  as  Mr.  Gardiner  says,  '  the  man  who  had 
more  genius  than  all  the  Privy  Council  put  together.* 
But  he  would  not  be  to  us  all  the  embodiment  of  the 
spirit  of  England  in  the  great  age  of  Elizabeth,  the  fore- 
most man  of  his  time,  the  figure  which  takes  the  same 
place  in  the  field  of  action  which  Shakespeare  takes  in 
that  of  imagination  and  Bacon  in  that  of  thought.  For 
this  something  more  was  needed,  the  long  torture  of 
imprisonment,  the  final  crown  of  judicial  martyrdom. 
The  slow  tragedy  closing  on  Tower  Hill  is  the  necessary 
complement  to  his  greatness. 

All  this  it  is  easy  to  see,  but  it  is  more  difficult  to 
understand  what  circumstances  brought  about  a  condition 
of  things  in  which  such  a  tragedy  became  possible.  We 
must  realise  that  Raleigh  was  a  man  of  severe  speech 
and  reserved  manner,  not  easily  moved  to  be  gracious, 
constantly  reproving  the  sluggish  by  his  rapidity,  and 
galling  the  dull  by  his  wit.  All  through  his  career  we 
find  him  hard  to  get  on  with,  proud  to  his  inferiors, 
still  more  crabbed  to  those  above  him.  If  policy  required 
that  he  should  use  the  arts  of  a  diplomatist,  he  over- 
played his  part,  and  stung  his  rivals  to  the  quick  by  an 
obsequiousness  in  speech  to  which  his  eyes  and  shoulders 


Last  Days  of  Elizabeth  131 

gave  the  lie.  With  all  his  wealth  and  influence,  he 
missed  the  crowning  points  of  his  ambition ;  he  never 
sat  in  the  House  of  Peers,  he  never  pushed  his  way  to 
the  council  board,  he  never  held  quite  the  highest  rank 
in  any  naval  expedition,  he  never  ruled  with  only  the 
Queen  above  him  even  in  Ireland.  He  who  of  all  men 
hated  most  and  deserved  least  to  be  an  underling,  was 
forced  to  play  the  subordinate  all  through  the  most 
brilliant  part  of  his  variegated  life  of  adventure.  It  was 
only  for  a  moment,  at  Cadiz  or  Fayal,  that  by  a  doubtful 
breach  of  prerogative  he  struggled  to  the  surface,  to  sink 
again  directly  the  achievement  was  accomplished.  This 
soured  and  would  probably  have  paralysed  him,  but  for 
the  noble  stimulant  of  misfortune ;  and  to  the  temper 
which  this  continued  disappointment  produced,  we  must 
look  for  the  cause  of  his  unpopularity. 

It  is  difficult,  as  we  have  said,  to  understand  how  it 
was  that  he  had  the  opportunity  to  become  unpopular. 
From  one  of  his  latest  letters  in  Elizabeth's  reign  we 
gather  that  the  tavern-keepers  throughout  the  country 
considered  Raleigh  at  fault  for  a  tax  which  was  really 
insisted  on  by  the  Queen's  rapacity.  He  prays  Cecil  to 
induce  Elizabeth  to  remit  it,  for,  he  says, '  I  cannot  live, 
nor  show  my  face  out  of  my  doors,  without  it,  nor  dare 
ride  through  the  towns  where  these  taverners  dwell.' 
This  is  the  only  passage  which  I  can  find  in  his  published 
correspondence  which  accounts  in  any  degree  for  the 
fact  that  we  presently  find  Raleigh  beyond  question  the 
best-hated  man  in  England.* 

*  Among  Sir  A.  Malet's  MSS.,  for  instance,  we  find  Raleigh 
spoken  of,  so  early  as  April  1 600,  as  '  the  hellish  Atheist  and  Traitor,' 
and  we  look  in  vain  for  the  cause  of  such  violence. 


132  Raleigh 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   TEIAL   AT  WINCHESTER. 

Raleigh  was  in  the  west  when  the  Queen  died,  and  he 
had  no  opportunity  of  making  the  rush  for  the  north 
which  emptied  London  of  its  nobility  in  the  beginning 
of  April.  King  James  had  reached  Burghley  before 
Raleigh,  in  company  with  his  old  comrade  Sir  Robert 
Crosse,  met  him  on  his  southward  journey.  It  was 
necessary  that  he  should  ask  the  new  monarch  for  a 
continuation  of  his  appointments  in  Devon  and  Cornwall ; 
his  posts  at  Court  he  had  probably  made  up  his  mind 
to  lose.  One  of  the  blank  forms  which  the  King  had 
sent  up  to  be  signed  by  Cecil,  nominally  excusing  the 
recipient  from  coming  to  meet  James,  had  been  sent  to 
Raleigh,  and  this  was  of  evil  omen.  The  King  received 
him  ungraciously,  and  Raleigh  did  not  make  the  situa- 
tion better  by  explaining  the  cause  of  his  disobedience. 
James,  it  is  said,  admitted  in  a  blunt  pun  that  he  had 
been  prejudiced  against  the  late  Queen's  favourite  ;  '  on 
my  soul,  man,'  he  said,  *  I  have  heard  but  rawly  of  thee.' 
Raleigh  was  promised  letters  of  continuance  for  the 
Stannaries,  but  was  warned  to  take  no  measures  with 
regard  to  the  woods  and  parks  of  the  Duchy  of  Cornwall 
until  further  orders.      After  the  first  rough  greeting, 


The   Trial  at    Winchester  133 

James  was  fairly  civil,  but  on  April  25  privately  desired 
Sir  Thomas  Lake  to  settle  Raleigh's  business  speedily, 
and  send  him  off. 

In  the  first  week  of  May,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was 
informed  by  the  Council  that  the  King  had  chosen  Sir 
Thomas  Erskine  to  be  Captain  of  the  Guard.  It  was 
the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that  James  should 
select  an  old  friend  and  a  Scotchman  for  this  confidential 
post,  and  Raleigh,  as  the  Council  Book  records,  *  in  a  very 
humble  manner  did  submit  himself.'  To  show  that  no 
injury  to  his  fortunes  was  intended,  the  King  was  pleased 
to  remit  the  tax  of  300Z.  a  year  which  Elizabeth  had 
charged  on  Raleigh's  salary  as  Governor  of  Jersey. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  evidence  that  Raleigh 
was  led  into  any  imprudent  action  by  all  these  changes. 
Mr.  Gardiner  appears  to  put  some  faith  in  a  despatch  of 
Beaumont's  to  Villeroi,  on  May  2,  according  to  which 
Raleigh  was  in  such  a  rage  at  the  loss  of  one  of  his 
offices,  that  he  rushed  into  the  King's  presence,  and 
poured  out  accusations  of  treason  against  Cecil.  I  can- 
not but  disbelieve  this  story ;  the  evidence  all  goes  to 
prove  that  he  still  regarded  Cecil,  among  the  crowd  of 
his  enemies,  as  at  least  half  his  friend.  On  May  13, 
Cecil  was  raised  to  the  peerage,  as  a  sign  of  royal  favour. 

Lady  Raleigh  had  always  regretted  the  carelessness 
with  which  her  husband  expended  money  upon  Durham 
House,  his  town  mansion,  without  ever  securing  a  proper 
lease  of  it.  Her  prognostications  of  evil  were  soon  ful- 
filled. James  I.  was  hardly  safe  on  his  throne  before 
the  Bishop  of  Durham  demanded  the  restitution  of 
the  ancient  town  palace  of  his  see.  On  May  31, 1603,  a 
royal  warrant  announced  that   Durham  House  was  to 


134  Raleigh 

be  restored  to  tlie  Bisliop — '  the  said  dwellers  in  it 
having  no  right  to  the  same ' — and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
was  warned  to  give  quiet  possession  of  the  house  to 
such  as  the  Bishop  might  appoint.  Raleigh,  much  in- 
commoded at  so  sudden  notice  to  quit,  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  stay  until  Michaelmas.  The  Bishop  con- 
sidered this  very  unreasonable,  and  would  grant  him  no 
later  date  than  June  23.  In  this  dilemma  Raleigh 
appealed  to  the  Lords  Commissioners,  saying  that  he 
had  spent  2,000Z.  on  the  house,  and  that  '  the  poorest 
artificer  in  London  hath  a  quarter's  warning  given  him 
by  his  landlord.'  It  is  interesting  to  us,  as  giving  us  a 
notion  of  Raleigh's  customary  retinue,  that  he  says  he 
has  already  laid  in  provision  for  his  London  household 
of  forty  persons  and  nearly  twenty  horses.  '  Now  to 
cast  out  my  hay  and  oats  into  the  streets  at  an  hour's 
warning,'  for  the  Bishop  wanted  to  occupy  the  stables 
at  once,  '  and  to  remove  my  family  and  stuff  in  fourteen 
days  after,  is  such  a  severe  expulsion  as  hath  not  been 
offered  to  any  man  before  this  day.'  What  became  of 
his  chattels,  and  what  lodging  he  found  for  his  family, 
is  uncertain  ;  he  gained  no  civility  by  his  appeal.  That 
he  was  disturbed  by  the  Bishop,  and  busily  engaged  in 
changing  houses  all  through  June,  is  not  unimportant 
in  connection  with  the  accusation,  at  the  trial,  that  he 
had  spent  so  much  of  this  month  plotting  with  Cobham 
and  Aremberg  at  Durham  House. 

It  was  plain  that  he  was  not  judicious  in  his 
behaviour  to  James.  At  all  times  he  had  been  an  advo- 
cate of  war  rather  than  peace,  even  when  peace  was 
obviously  needful.  Spain,  too,  was  written  upon  his 
heart,  as  Calais  had  been  on  Mary's,  and  even  at  this 


The    Trial  at    Winchester  135 

untoward  juncture  he  must  needs  thrust  his  enmity 
on  unwilling  ears.  It  is  hardly  conceivable  that  he 
should  not  know  that  James  was  deeply  involved  with 
promises  to  the  Catholics;  and  though  the  King  had 
said,  in  the  face  of  his  welcome  to  England,  that  he 
should  not  need  them  now,  he  had  no  intention  of  ex- 
asperating them.  As  to  Spain,  the  King  was  simply 
waiting  for  overtures  from  Madrid.  Kaleigh,  who  was 
never  a  politician,  saw  nothing  of  all  this,  and  merely 
used  every  opportunity  he  had  of  gaining  the  King's 
ear  to  urge  his  distasteful  projects  of  a  war.  On  the 
last  occasion  when,  so  far  as  we  know,  Kaleigh  had  an 
interview  with  James,  they  were  both  the  guests  of 
Raleigh's  uncle.  Sir  Nicholas  Carew,  at  Bedingfield 
Park.  It  would  seem  that  he  had  already  placed  in 
the  royal  hands  the  manuscript  of  his  Discourse  touching 
War  with  Spain,  and  of  the  Protecting  of  the  Nether- 
lands, and  he  offered  to  raise  two  thousand  men  at 
his  own  expense,  and  to  lead  them  in  person  against 
Spain.  James  I.  must  have  found  this  persistence,  espe- 
cially from  a  man  against  whom  he  had  formed  a 
prejudice,  exceedingly  galling.  No  doubt,  too,  long 
familiarity  with  Queen  Elizabeth  in  the  decline  of  her 
powers,  had  given  Raleigh  a  manner  in  approaching 
royalty  which  was  not  to  James's  liking. 

In  July  the  King's  Catholic  troubles  reached  a  head. 
Watson's  plot,  involving  Copley  and  the  young  Lord 
Grey  de  Wilton,  occupied  the  Privy  Council  during  that 
month,  and  it  was  discovered  that  George  Brooke,  a 
younger  brother  of  Lord  Cobham's,  was  concerned  in  it. 
The  Brookes,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  the  brothers- 
in-law  of  Cecil  himself,  but  by  this  time  completely 
13 


136  Raleigh 

estranged  from  him.  It  is  more  interesting  to  us  to 
note  that  Cobham  himself  was  the  only  intimate  friend 
left  to  Kaleigh.  With  extraordinary  rapidity  Raleigh 
himself  was  drawn  into  the  net  of  Watson's  misdoings. 
Copley  was  arrested  on  the  6th,  and  first  examined  on 
July  12.  He  incriminated  George  Brooke,  who  was 
arrested  on  the  14th.  Cobham,  who  was  busy  on  his 
duties  as  Lord  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  was  brought 
up  for  examination  on  the  15th  or  16th ;  and  on  the 
17th,^  Sir  Walter  Ealeigh,  who,  it  is  said,  had  given 
information  regarding  Cobham,  was  himself  arrested  at 
Windsor. 

Raleigh  was  walking  to  and  fro  on  the  great  terrace 
at  Windsor  on  the  morning  of  July  17,  1603,  waiting 
to  ride  with  the  King,  when  Cecil  came  to  him 
and  requested  his  presence  in  the  Council  Chamber. 
What  happened  there  is  unknown,  but  it  is  plain  amid 
the  chaos  of  conflicting  testimony  that  Cecil  argued  that 
what  George  Brooke  knew  Cobham  must  know,  and 
that  Raleigh  was  privy  to  all  Cobham's  designs.  What 
form  the  accusation  finally  took,  we  shall  presently  see. 
When  it  was  over  Raleigh  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Council, 
in  which  he  made  certain  random  statements  with 
regard  to  offers  made  to  Cobham  about  June  9  by  a 
certain  attendant  of  Count  Aremberg,  the  ambassador 
of  the  Archduke  Albert.  From  the  windows  of  Durham 
House  he  had  seen,  he  said,  Cobham's  boat  cross  over  to 
the  Austrian's  lodgings  in  St.  Saviour's.  He  probably 
felt  himself  forced  to  state  this  from  finding  that  the 
Council  already  knew  something  of  Cobham's  relations 

'  This  date,  till  lately  uncertain,  is  proved  from  the  journal  of 
Cecil's  secretary. 


The   Trial  at    Winchester  137 

with  Ai-emberg.  Still,  in  the  light  of  later  events,  the 
"writing  of  this  letter  may  seem  to  us  a  grave  mistake. 
It  was  instantly  shown,  on  the  very  next  day,  to  Cobham, 
and  doctored  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  the  latter  sup- 
pose that  Ealeigh  had  gratuitously  betrayed  him. 

On  the  day  that  Raleigh  was  arrested,  July  17, 
George  Brooke  said  in  examination  that  '  the  conspirators 
among  themselves  thought  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  a  fit  man 
to  be  of  the  action/  This  did  not  amount  to  much,  but 
Brooke  soon  became  more  copious  and  protested  a  fuller 
tale  day  by  day.  Nothing,  however,  that  could  touch 
Raleigh  was  obtained  from  any  witness  until,  on  the 
40th,  Lord  Cobham,  who  had  been  thoroughly  frightened 
by  daily  cross-examination,  was  shown  the  l^ter,  or  part 
of  the  letter,  from  Raleigh  to  Cecil  to  which  reference 
has  just  been  made.  He  then  broke  out  with,  '  O 
traitor !  0  villain  !  now  will  I  tell  you  all  the  truth  ! ' 
and  proceeded  at  once  to  say  that  ^  he  had  never  entered 
into  those  courses  but  by  Raleigh's  instigation,  and  that 
he  would  never  let  him  alone ! '  This  accusation  he 
entirely  retracted  nine  days  later,  in  consequence  of 
some  expostulation  from  Raleigh  which  had  found  its 
way  from  one  prisoner  to  the  other,  for  Raleigh  was  by 
this  time  safe  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

It  is  most  probable  that  he  was  taken  thither  on 
July  18,  immediately  after  his  arrest.  On  the  20th, 
after  Cobham's  formal  accusation,  he  was  evidently 
more  strictly  confined,  and  it  must  have  been  imme- 
diately after  receiving  news  of  this  charge  that  he 
attempted  to  commit  suicide.  He  would  be  told  of 
Cobham's  words,  in  all  likelihood,  on  the  morning  of 
the  21st;  he  would  write  the  letter  to  his  wife  after 


138  Raleigh 

meditating  on  the  results  of  his  position,  and  then 
would  follow  the  scene  that  Cecil  describes  in  a  letter 
dated  fifteen  days  later : 

Although  lodged  and  attended  as  well  as  in  his  own  house, 
yet  one  afternoon,  while  divers  of  us  were  in  the  Tower, 
examining  these  prisoners,  Sir  Walter  Kaleigh  attempted  to 
have  murdered  himself.  Whereof  when  we  were  advertised, 
we  came  to  him,  and  found  him  in  some  agony,  seeming  to 
be  unable  to  endure  his  misfortunes,  and  protesting 
innocency,  with  carelessness  of  life.  In  that  way,  he  had 
wounded  himself  under  the  right  pap,  but  no  way  mortally. 

There  is  no  reason  whatever  for  supposing  that  this 
was  not  a  genuine  attempt  at  suicide.  We  can  have 
no  difficulty  in  entering  into  the  mood  of  Raleigh's 
mind.  Roused  to  fresh  energy  by  misfortune,  his  brain 
and  will  had  of  late  once  more  become  active,  and  he 
was  planning  adventures  by  land  and  sea.  If  James 
did  oust  him  from  his  posts  about  the  Court  in  favour 
of  leal  Scotchmen,  Raleigh  would  brace  himself  by  some 
fresh  expedition  against  Cadiz,  some  new  settlement  of 
Virginia  or  Guiana.  In  the  midst  of  such  schemes,  the 
blow  of  his  unexpected  arrest  would  come  upon  him  out 
of  the  blue.  He  could  bear  poverty,  neglect,  hardships, 
even  death  itself;  but  imprisonment,  with  a  disgraceful 
execution  as  the  only  end  of  it,  that  he  was  not  at  first 
prepared  to  endure.  He  had  tasted  captivity  in  the 
Tower  once  before;  he  knew  the  intolerable  tedium 
and  fret  of  it ;  and  the  very  prospect  maddened  him. 
Nor  would  his  thoughts  be  only  or  mainly  of  himself. 
He  would  reflect  that  if  he  were  once  condemned, 
nothing  but   financial  ruin  and    social  obloquy  would 


The    Trial  at    Winchester  139 

attend  hia  wife  and  children;  and  tliis  it  was  whicli 
inspired  the  passionate  and  pathetic  letter  which  he 
addressed  to  Lady  Raleigh  just  before  he  stabbed  him- 
self. This  letter  seems  to  close  the  real  life  of  Raleigh. 
He  was  to  breathe,  indeed,  for  fifteen  years  more,  but 
only  in  a  sort  of  living  death.  He  begins  thus 
distractedly : 

Receive  from  thy  unfortunate  husband  these  his  last 
lines  :  these  the  last  words  that  ever  thou  shalt  receive  from 
him.  That  I  can  live  never  to  see  thee  and  my  child  more  ! 
I  cannot !  I  have  desired  God  and  disputed  with  my  reason, 
but  nature  and  compassion  hath  the  victory.  That  I  can 
live  to  think  how  you  are  both  left  a  spoil  to  my  enemies, 
and  that  my  name  shall  be  a  dishonour  to  my  child  !  I 
cannot  !  I  cannot  endure  the  memory  thereof.  TJnf ortunata 
woman,  unfortunate  child,  comfort  yourselves,  trust  God, 
and  be  contented  with  your  poor  estate.  I  would  have 
bettered  it,  if  I  had  enjoyed  a  few  years. 

He  goes  on  to  tell  his  wife  that  she  is  still  young, 
and  should  marry  again ;  and  then  falls  into  a  tumult  of 
distress  over  his  own  accusation.  Presently  he  grows 
calmer,  after  a  wild  denunciation  of  Cobham,  and  bids 
his  wife  forgive,  as  he  does : 

Live  humble,  for  thou  hast  but  a  time  also.  God  forgive 
my  Lord  Harry  [Howard],  for  he  was  my  heavy  enemy. 
And  for  my  Lord  Cecil,  I  thought  he  would  never  forsake 
me  in  extremity.  I  would  not  have  done  it  him,  God 
knows.  But  do  not  thou  know  it,  for  he  must  be  master  of 
thy  child,  and  may  have  compassion  of  him.  Be  not  dis- 
mayed, that  I  died  in  despair  of  God's  mercies.  Strive  not 
to  dispute,  but  assure  thyself  that  God  has  not  left  me, 
nor  Satan  tempted  me.  Hope  and  despair  live  not  together. 


140  Raleigh 

I  know  it  is  forljiclden  to  destroy  ourselves,  but  I  trust  it  is 
forbidden  in  this  sort — that  we  destroy  not  ourselves  de- 
spairing of  God's  mercy. 

After  an  impassioned  prayer,  he  speaks  of  his  estate. 
His  debts,  he  confesses,  are  many,  and  as  the  latest  of 
them  he  mentions  what  he  owes  to  an  expedition  to 
Virginia  then  on  the  return  voyage,  the  expedition  in 
which  Cecil  had  a  share.  Then  his  shame  and  anger 
break  out  again  : 

What  will  my  poor  servants  tliink,  at  their  return,  when 
they  hear  I  am  accused  to  be  Spanish  who  sent  them,  at 
my  great  charge,  to  plant  and  discover  upon  his  territory  ! 

0  intolerable  infamy !  O  God  !  I  cannot  resist  these 
thoughts.  I  cannot  live  to  think  how  I  am  divided,  to  think 
of  the  expectation  of  my  enemies,  the  scorns  I  shall  receive, 
the  cruel  words  of  lawyers,  the  infamous  taunts  and  despites, 
to  be  made  a  wonder  and  a  spectacle  !  .  .  .  I  commend 
unto  you  my  poor  brother  Adrian  Gilbert.  The  lease  of 
Sandridge  is  his,  and  none  of  mine.  Let  him  have  it,  for 
God's  cause.  He  knows  what  is  due  to  me  upon  it.  And 
be  good  to  Keymis,  for  he  is  a  perfect  honest  man,  and  hath 
much  wrong  for  my  sake.  For  the  rest  I  commend  me  to 
thee,  and  thee  to  God,  and  the  Lord  knows  my  sorrow  to 
part  from  thee  and  my  poor  child.    But  part  I  must.    .    .    . 

1  bless  my  poor  child  ;  and  let  him  know  his  father  was 
no  traitor.  Be  bold  of  my  innocence,  for  God — to  whom  I 
offer  life  and  soul — knows  it.  .  .  .  And  the  Lord  for  ever 
keep  thee,  and  give  thee  comfort  in  both  worlds. 

There  are  few  documents  of  the  period  more  affecting 
than  this,  but  lie  suffered  no  return  of  this  mood.  The 
pain  of  his  wound  and  the  weakness  it  produced  quieted 
him  at  first,  and  then  hope  began  to  take  the  place  of 
this   agony   of  despair.     Meanwhile   his   treason   was 


The    Trial  at    Winchester  141 

taken  for  granted,  and  he  was  stripped  of  his  appoint- 
ments. He  had  been  forced  to  resign  the  Wardenship 
of  the  Stannaries  to  Sir  Francis  Godolphin,  and  the 
wine  patent  was  given  to  the  Earl  of  Nottingham,  who 
behaved  with  scant  courtesy  to  his  old  friend  and 
comrade.  Sir  John  Peyton,  after  guarding  Raleigh 
for  ten  days  at  the  Tower,  was  released  from  the  post 
of  Lieutenant,  and  was  given  the  Governorship  of  Jersey, 
of  which  Raleigh  was  deprived.  On  the  next  day, 
August  1,  Sir  George  Harvey  took  Peyton's  place  as 
Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  the  last  report  from  the 
outgoing  officer  being  that  ^  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  hurt 
is  doing  very  well.'  It  was  evidently  not  at  all  severe, 
for  on  the  4th  he  was  pronounced  cured,  *  both  in  body 
and  mind.'  On  the  3rd,  De  Beaumont,  the  French 
ambassador,  had  written  confidentially  to  Henry  IV. 
that  Raleigh  gave  out  that  this  attempt  at  suicide  '  was 
formed  in  order  that  his  fate  might  not  serve  as  a 
triumph  to  his  enemies,  whose  power  to  put  him  to 
death,  despite  his  innocence,  he  well  knows.' 

On  August  10  there  had  still  been  made  no  definite 
accusation  linking  Raleigh  or  even  Cobham  with 
Watson's  plot.  All  that  could  be  said  was  that  Raleigh 
and  Cobham  were  intimate  with  the  plotters,  and  that 
they  had  mutually  accused  each  other,  vaguely,  of 
entering  into  certain  possibly  treasonable  negotiations 
with  Austria.  On  that  day  De  Beaumont  was  inclined 
to  think  that  both  would  be  acquitted.  It  does  not 
seem  that  James  was  anxious  to  push  matters  to  an 
extremity;  but  the  Government,  instigated  by  Suffolk, 
insisted  on  severity.  On  August  13,  Raleigh  was  again 
examined  in  the  Tower,  and  this  time  more  rigorously. 


142  Raleigh 

A  distinct  statement  was  now  gained  from  him,  to  the 
effect  that  Cobham  had  offered  him  10,000  crowns  to 
further  a  peace  between  Spain  and  England ;  Ealeigh 
had  answered,  *  "  When  I  see  the  money  I  will  make  you 
an  answer,"  for  I  thought  it  one  of  his  ordinary  idle 
conceits/  He  insisted,  however,  that  this  conversation 
had  nothing  to  do  with  Aremberg.  All  through  the 
month  of  September  the  plague  was  raging  in  London. 
In  spite  of  all  precautions,  it  found  its  way  into  the 
outlying  posts  of  the  Tower.  Sir  George  Harvey  sent 
away  his  family,  and  Wood,  who  was  in  special  charge  of 
the  State  prisoners,  abandoned  them  to  the  Lieutenant. 
On  September  7  we  find  Harvey  sending  Raleigh's 
private  letters  by  a  man  of .  the  name  of  Mellersh,  who 
had  been  Cobham's  steward  and  was  now  his  secretary. 
Baleigh  and  Cobham  had  become  convinced  that,  what- 
ever was  theii'  innocence  or  guilt,  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  that  each  should  have  some  idea  what  the 
other  was  confessing. 

On  September  21,  Raleigh,  Cobham,  and  George 
Brooke  were  indicted  at  Staines.  The  indictment 
shows  us  for  the  first  time  what  the  Government  had 
determined  to  accuse  Raleigh  of  plotting.  It  is  plainly 
put  that  he  is  charged  with  '  exciting  rebellion  against 
the  King,  and  raising  one  Arabella  Stuart  to  the  Crown 
of  England.'  Without  going  into  vexed  questions  of 
the  claim  of  this  unhappy  woman,  we  may  remind  our- 
selves that  Arabella  Stuart  was  James  I.'s  first  cousin, 
the  daughter  of  Charles  Stuart,  fifth  Earl  of  Lennox, 
Darnley's  elder  brother.  Her  father  had  died  in  1576, 
soon  after  her  birth.  About  1588  she  had  come  up  to 
London  to  be  presented  to  Elizabeth,  and  on  that  occasion 


The   Trial  at    Winchester  143 

had  amused  Raleigh  with  her  gay  accomplishments. 
The  legal  quibble  on  which  her  claim  was  founded  was 
the  fact  that  she  was  born  in  England,  whereas  James 
as  a  Scotchman  was  supposed  to  be  excluded.  Arabella 
was  no  pretender  ;  her  descent  from  Margaret,  the  sister 
of  Henry  VIII.j  was  complete,  and  if  James  had  died 
childless  and  she  had  survived  him,  it  is  difficult  to  see 
how  her  claim  could  have  been  avoided  in  favour  of  the 
Suffolk  line.  ^Meantime  she  had  no  real  claim,  and  no 
party  in  the  country.  But  Elizabeth,  in  one  of  her 
fantastic  moods,  had  presented  Arabella  to  the  wife  of  a 
French  ambassador,  as  '  she  that  will  sometime  be  Lady 
Mistress  here,  even  as  I  am.'  Before  the  Queen's  death 
Arabella's  very  name  had  become  hateful  to  her,  but  this 
was  the  slender  ground  upon  which  Cobham's,  but 
scarcely  Raleigh's,  hopes  were  based. 

The  jury  was  well  packed  with  adverse  names. 
The  precept  is  signed  by  Raleigh's  old  and  bitter 
enemy,  Lord  Howard  of  Bindon,  now  Earl  of  Suffolk. 
The  trial,  probably  on  account  of  the  terror  caused  by 
the  ravages  of  the  plague,  was  adjourned  for  nearly  two 
months,  which  Raleigh  spent  in  the  Tower.  Almost 
the  only  remnant  of  all  his  great  wealth  which  was  not 
by  this  time  forfeited,  was  his  cluster  of  estates  at  Sher- 
borne. He  attempted  to  tie  these  up  to  his  son,  and  his 
brother,  Adrian  Gilbert,  and  Cecil  appears  to  have  been 
a  friend  to  Lady  Raleigh  in  this  matter.  It  was  so 
generally  taken  for  granted  that  Raleigh  would  be  con- 
demned, that  no  mock  modesty  prevented  the  King's 
Scotch  favourites  from  asking  for  his  estates.  In  October 
Cecil  informed  Sir  James  Elphinstone  that  he  w^as  at 
least  the  twelfth  person  who  had  already  applied  for  the 


144  Raleigh 

gift  of  Sherborne.  Fortunately  Ealeigb,  as  late  as  tlie 
summer  of  1602,  had  desired  the  judge,  Sir  John  Dod- 
dridge, to  draw  up  a  conveyance  of  Sherborne  to  his  son, 
and  then  to  his  brother,  with  a  rent-charge  of  200Z.  a 
year  for  life  to  Lady  Ealeigh.  For  the  present  Cecil 
firmly  refused  to  allow  anyone  to  tamper  with  this 
conveyance,  and  Sherborne  was  the  raft  upon  which  the 
Raleighs  sailed  through  the  worst  tempest  of  the  trial. 
Cecil  undoubtedly  retained  a  certain  tenderness  towards 
his  old  friend  Lady  Ealeigh,  and  for  her  sake,  rather  than 
her  husband's,  he  extended  a  sort  of  protection  to  them 
in  their  misfortune.  She  appealed  to  him  in  touching 
language  to  ^  pity  the  name  of  your  ancient  friend  on  his 
poor  little  creature,  which  may  live  to  honoui*  you,  that 
we  may  all  lift  up  our  hands  and  hearts  in  prayer  for 
you  and  yours.  If  you  truly  knew,  you  would  pity  your 
poor  unfortunate  friend,  which  relieth  wholly  on  your 
honourable  and  wonted  favour.'  Cecil  listened,  and 
almost  relented. 

At  first  Cobham  was  not  confined  in  the  Tower,  and 
before  he  came  there  Ealeigh  was  advised  by  some  of 
his  friends  to  try  to  communicate  with  him.  According 
to  Ealeigh's  account,  he  wrote  first  of  all,  'You  or  I 
must  go  to  trial.  If  I  first,  then  your  accusation  is  the 
only  evidence  against  me.'  Cobham's  reply  was  not 
satisfactory,  and  Ealeigh  wrote  again,  and  Cobham 
then  sent  what  Ealeigh  thought  '  a  very  good  letter.* 
The  person  who  undertook  to  carry  on  this  secret  cor- 
respondence was  no  other  than  young  Sir  John  Peyton, 
whom  James  had  just  knighted,  the  son  of  the  late 
Lieutenant  of  the  Tower.  Sir  George  Harvey  seems 
to  have  suspected,  without  wishing  to  be  disagreeable, 


The   Trial  at   Winchester  145 

for  Raleigh  had  to  liint  to  Cobham  that  the  Lieutenant 
might  be  blamed  if  it  were  discovered  that  letters  were 
passing.  Cobham  sliifted  from  hour  to  hour,  and 
changed  colour  like  a  moral  chameleon;  Raleigh  could 
not  depend  on  him,  nor  even  influence  him.  Mean- 
while Cobham  was  transferred  to  the  Tower,  and  now 
communication  between  the  prisoners  seemed  almost 
impossible.  However,  the  servant  who  was  waiting 
upon  Raleigh,  a  man  named  Cotterell,  undertook  to 
speak  to  Cobham,  and  desired  him  to  leave  his  window 
in  the  Wardrobe  Tower  ajar  on  a  certain  night. 
Raleigh  had  prepared  a  letter,  entreating  Cobham  to 
clear  him  at  all  costs.  This  letter  Cotterell  tied  round 
an  apple,  and  at  eight  o'clock  at  night  threw  it  dexter- 
ously into  Cobham's  room  ;  half  an  hour  afterwards  a 
second  letter,  of  still  more  complete  retractation,  was 
pushed  by  Cobham  under  his  door.  This  Raleigh  hid 
in  his  pocket  and  showed  to  no  one. 

Thus  October  passed,  and  during  these  ten  weeks 
the  popular  fury  against  the  accused  had  arisen  to  a 
tumultuous  pitch.  On  November  5,  Sir  W.  Waad  was 
instructed  to  bring  Raleigh  out  of  the  Tower,  and 
prepare  him  for  his  trial.  As  has  been  said,  the  plague 
was  in  London,  and  the  prisoner  was  therefore  taken 
down  to  Winchester,  to  be  tried  in  Wolvesey  Castle. 
So  terrible  was  the  popular  hatred  of  Raleigh,  that  the 
conveyance  of  him  was  attended  with  difficulty,  and 
had  to  be  constantly  delayed.  ^It  was  hob  or  nob 
whether  he  should  have  been  brought  alive  through  such 
multitudes  of  unruly  people  as  did  exclaim  against  him ; ' 
and  to  escape  Lynch  law  a  whole  week  had  to  be  given 
to  the  transit.     'The  fury  and   tumult  of  the   people 


14^  Raleigh 

was  so  great '  that  "Waad  liacl  to  set  watclies,  and  hasten 
his  prisoner  by  a  stage  at  a  time,  when  the  mob  was 
not  expecting  him.  The  wretched  people  seemed  to 
forget  all  about  the  plague  for  the  moment,  so  eager 
were  they  to  tear  Raleigh  to  pieces.  When  he  had 
reached  Winchester,  it  was  thought  well  to  wait  five 
days  more,  to  give  the  popular  fury  time  to  quiet  down 
a  little.  A  Court  of  King's  Bench  was  fitted  up  in  the 
castle,  an  old  Episcopal  palace,  not  well  suited  for  that 
purpose. 

On  Thursday,  November  17,  1603,  Raleigh's  trial 
began.  In  the  centre  of  the  upper  part  of  the  court, 
under  a  canopy  of  brocade,  sat  the  Lord  Chief  Justice 
of  England,  Popham,  and  on  either  side  of  him,  as 
special  commissioners,  Cecil,  Waad,  the  Earls  of  Suffolk 
and  Devonshire,  with  the  judges,  Anderson,  Gawdy,  and 
Warburton,  and  other  persons  of  distinction.  Opposite 
Popham  sat  the  Attorney-General,  Sir  Edward  Coke, 
who  conducted  the  trial.  It  was  actually  opened,  how- 
ever, by  Hale,  the  Serjeant,  who  attempted,  as  soon  as 
Raleigh  had  pleaded  ^  not  guilty '  to  the  indictment,  to 
raise  an  unseemly  laugh  by  saying  that  Lady  Arabella 
*  hath  no  more  title  to  the  Crown  than  I  have,  which, 
before  God,  I  utterly  renounce.'  Raleigh  was  noticed 
to  smile  at  this,  and  we  can  imagine  that  his  irony 
would  be  roused  by  such  buffoonery  on  an  occasion  so 
serious.  There  was  no  more  jesting  of  this  kind,  but 
the  whole  trial  has  remained  a  type  of  what  was  uncouth 
and  undesirable  in  the  conduct  of  criminal  trials  through 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  nation  so 
rapidly  increased  in  sensitiveness  and  in  a  perception 
of  legal  decency,  that  one  of  the  very  judges  who  con- 


The   Trial  at    Winchester  147 

ducted  Raleigh's  trial,  Gawdy,  lived  to  look  back  upon 
it  with  horror,  and  to  say,  when  he  himself  lay  upon 
his  death-bed,  that  such  a  mode  of  procedure  '  injured 
and  degraded  the  justice  of  England.' 

When  Hale  had  ceased  his  fooling.  Coke  began  in 
earnest.  He  was  a  man  a  little  older  than  Raleigh,  and 
of  a  conceited  and  violent  nature,  owing  not  a  little  of 
his  exaggerated  reputation  to  the  dread  that  he  inspired. 
He  was  never  more  rude  and  brutal  than  in  his  treat- 
ment of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  upon  this  famous  occasion, 
and  even  in  a  court  packed  with  enemies,  in  which  the 
proud  poet  and  navigator  might  glance  round  without 
meeting  one  look  more  friendly  than  that  in  the  cold 
eyes  of  Cecil,  the  needless  insolence  of  Coke  went  too 
far,  and  caused  a  revulsion  in  Raleigh's  favour.  Coke 
began  by  praising  the  clemency  of  the  King,  who  had 
forbidden  the  use  of  torture,  and  proceeded  to  charge 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  with  what  he  called  '  treason  of  the 
Main,'  to  distinguish  it  from  that  of  George  Brooke  and 
his  fellows,  which  was  '  of  the  Bye.'  He  described  this 
latter,  and  tried  to  point  out  that  the  former  was  closely 
cognate  to  it.  In  order  to  mask  the  difficulty,  nay,  the 
impossibility,  of  doing  this  successfully  on  the  evidence 
which  he  possessed,  he  wandered  off  into  a  long  and 
wordy  disquisition  on  treasonable  plots  in  general, 
ending  abruptly  with  that  of  Edmund  de  la  Pole.  Then, 
for  the  first  time,  Coke  faced  the  chief  difficulty 
of  the  Government,  namely,  that  there  was  but  one 
witness  against  Raleigh.  He  did  not  allow,  as  indeed 
he  could  not  be  expected  to  do,  that  Cobham  had 
shifted  like  a  Reuben,  and  was  now  adhering,  for  the 
moment,  to  an  eighth  several  confession  of  what  he  and 
14 


148  Raleigh 

Ealeigli  liad  actually  done  or  meant  to  do.  It  was 
enough  for  Coke  to  insist  that  Cobham's  evidence,  that 
is  to  say,  whichever  of  the  eight  conflicting  statements 
suited  the  prosecution  best,  was  as  valuable,  in  a  case 
of  this  kind,  as  '  the  inquest  of  twelve  men.' 

Having  thus,  as  he  thought,  shut  Ealeigh's  mouth 
with  regard  to  this  one  great  difficulty,  he  continued  to 
declaim  against  ^  those  traitors,'  obstinately  persisting 
in  mixing  up  Raleigh's  '  Main  '  with  the  *  Bye,'  in  spite 
of  the  distinction  which  he  himself  had  drawn.  Raleigh 
appealed  against  this  once  or  twice,  and  at  last  showed 
signs  of  impatience.  Coke  then  suddenly  turned  upon 
him,  and  cried  out,  '  To  whom,  Sir  Walter,  did  you 
bear  malice  ?  To  the  royal  children  ? '  In  the  alterca- 
tion that  followed,  Coke  lost  his  temper  in  earnest,  and 
allowed  himself  to  call  Raleigh  '  a  monster  with  an 
English  face,  but  a  Spanish  heart.'  He  then  proceeded 
to  state  what  the  accusation  of  Sir  Walter  really 
amounted  to,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  inexplicable  chaos 
of  this  whole  affair  it  may  be  well  to  stand  for  a  moment 
on  this  scrap  of  solid  ground.     Coke's  words  were : 

You  would  have  stirred  England  and  Scotland  both. 
You  incited  the  Lord  Cobham,  as  soon  as  Count  Aremberg 
came  into  England,  to  go  to  him.  The  night  he  went,  you  sup- 
ped with  the  Lord  Cobham,  and  he  brought  you  after  supper 
to  Durham  House  ;  and  then  the  same  night  by  a  back-way 
went  with  La  Renzi  to  Count  Aremberg,  and  got  from  him 
a  promise  for  the  money.  After  this  it  was  arranged  that 
the  Lord  Cobham  should  go  to  Spain  and  return  by  Jersey, 
where  you  were  to  meet  him  about  the  distribution  of  the 
money  ;  because  Cobham  had  not  so  much  policy  or  wicked- 
ness as  you.   Your  intent  was  to  set  up  the  Lady  Arabella  as 


The    Trial  at    Winchester  i49 

a  titular  Queen,  and  to  depose  our  present  rightful  King, 
the  lineal  descendant  of  Edward  IV.  You  pretend  that 
this  money  was  to  forward  the  Peace  with  Spain.  Your 
jargon  was  *  peace,'  which  meant  Spanish  invasion  and 
Scottish  subversion. 

This  was  plain  language,  at  least ;  this  was  the  case 
for  the  prosecution,  stripped  of  all  pedantic  juggling ; 
and  Raleigh  now  drew  himself  together  to  confute  these 
charges  as  best  he  might.     '  Let  me  answer,'  he  said ; 
*  it  concerns  my  life ; '  and  from  this  point  onwards,  as 
Mr.  Edwards  remarks,  the  trial  becomes  a  long  and  im- 
passioned dialogue.     Coke  refused  to  let  Raleigh  speak, 
and  in  this  was  supported  by  Popham,  a  very  old  man, 
who  owed,  his  position  in  that  court  more  to  his  age 
than  his  talents,  and  who  was  solicitous  to  be  on  friendly 
terms   with   the   Attorney.     Coke   then   proceeded  to 
argue  that  Raleigh's  relations  witli  Cobham  had  been 
notoriously  so  intimate  that  there  was  nothing  surpris- 
ing or  improbable  in  the  accusation  that  he  shared  his 
guilt.     He   then   nimbly   went   on   to  expatiate   with 
regard  to  the  circumstances  of  Cobham's  treason,  and 
was  deft  enougli  to  bring  these  forward  in  such  a  way 
as  to  leave  on  the  mind  of  his  hearers  the  impression 
that  these  were  things  proved  against  Raleigh.     To 
this  practice,  which  deserved  the  very  phrases  which 
Coke  used  against  the  prisoner's  dealings,  '  devilish  and 
machiavelian  policy,'  Raleigli  protested  again  and  again 
that  lie  ought  not  to  be  subjected,  until  Coke  lost  his 
temper  once  more,  and  cried,  '  I  tliou  thee,  thou  traitor, 
and  I  will  prove  thee  the  rankest  traitor  in  all  England.' 
A  sort  of  hubbub  now  ensued,  and  the  Lord  Chief  Justice 


I50  Raleigh 

again  interfered  to  silence  Raleigli,  witli  a  poor  show  of 
impartiality. 

Coke,  however,  had  well  nigh  exhausted  the  slender 
stock  of  evidence  with  which  he  had  started.  For  a 
few  minutes  longer  he  tried  by  sheer  bluster  to  conceal 
the  poverty  of  the  case,  and  last  of  all  he  handed  one  of 
Cobham's  confessions  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Crown  to  be 
read  in  court.  It  entered  into  no  particulars,  which 
Cobham  said  their  lordships  must  not  expect  from  him, 
for  he  was  so  confounded  that  he  had  lost  his  memory, 
but  it  vaguely  asserted  that  he  would  never  have  entered 
into  *  these  courses '  but  for  Raleigh's  instigation.  The 
reading  being  over.  Coke  at  last  sat  down.  Raleigh 
began  to  address  the  jury,  very  quietly  at  first.  He 
pointed  out  that  this  solitary  accusation,  by  the  most 
wavering  of  mortals,  uttered  in  a  moment  of  anger,  was 
absolutely  all  the  evidence  that  could  be  brought  against 
him.  He  admitted  that  he  suspected  Cobham  of  secret 
communications  with  Count  Aremberg,  but  he  declared 
that  he  knew  no  details,  and  that  whatever  he  discovered, 
Cecil  also  was  privy  to.  He  had  hitherto  spoken  softly ; 
he  now  suddenly  raised  his  voice,  and  electrified  the 
court  by  turning  upon  Sir  Edward  Coke,  and  pouring 
forth  the  eloquent  and  indignant  protest  which  must 
now  be  given  in  his  own  words. 

Master  Attorney,  whether  to  favour  or  to  disable  my 
Lord  Cobham  you  speak  as  you  will  of  him,  yet  he  is  not 
such  a  babe  as  you  make  him.  He  hath  dispositions  of  such 
violence,  which  his  best  friends  could  never  temper.  But  it 
is  very  strange  that  I,  at  this  time,  should  be  thought  to 
plot  with  the  Lord  Cobham,  knowing  him  a  man  that  hath 
neither  love  nor  following  ;  and,  myself,  at  this  time  having 


The    Trial  at    Winchester  151 

resi<Tned  a  place  of  my  best  command  in  an  office  I  had  in 
Cornwall.     I  was  not  so  bare  of  sense  but  I  saw  that,  if 
ever  this  State  was  strong,  it  was  now  that  we  have  the 
Kingdom  of  Scotland  united,  whence  we  were  wont  to  fear 
all  our   troubles— Ireland  quieted,  where  our  forces  were 
wont  to  be  divided — Denmark  assured,  whom  before   we 
were  always  wont  to  have  in  jealousy — the  Low  Countries 
our  nearest  neighbour.    And,  instead  of  a  Lady  whom  time 
had  surprised,  we  had  now  an  active  King,  who  would  be 
present  at  his  own  businesses.     For  me,  at  this  time,  to 
make  myself   a  Robin   Hood,  a  Wat  Tyler  [in  the  inad- 
vertence of  the  moment  he  seems  to   have  said  'a  Tom 
Tailor,'  by  mistake],  a  Kett,  or  a  Jack  Cade  !    I  was  not  so 
mad  !    I  knew  the  state  of  Spain  well,  his  weakness,  hia 
poorness,  his  humbleness  at  this  time.     I  knew  that  six 
times  we  had  repulsed  his  forces — thrice  in  Ireland,  thrice 
at   sea,    once   upon   our   coast  and   twice   upon   his   own. 
Thrice  had  I  served  against  him  myself  at  sea — wherein, 
for  my  country's  sake,  I  had  expended  of  my  own  property 
forty  thousand  marks.     I  knew  that  where  beforetime  he 
was  wont  to  have  forty  great  sails,  at  the  least,  in  his  ports, 
now  he  hath  not  past  six  or  seven.     And  for  sending  to  his 
Indies,   he  was   driven   to   have  strange  vessels,  a   thing 
contrary  to  the  institutions  of  his  ancestors,  who   straitly 
forbade  that,  even  in  case  of  necessity,  they  should  make 
their  necessity  known  to  strangers.   I  knew  that  of  twenty- 
five  millions  which  he  had  from  the  Indies,  he  had  scarce 
any  left.    Nay,  I  knew  his  poorness  to  be  such  at  this  time 
that  the  Jesuits,  his  imps,  begged  at  his  church  doors  ;  his 
pride  so  abated  that,  notwithstanding  his  former  high  terms, 
he  was  become  glad  to  congratulate  his  Majesty,  and  to 
send  creeping  unto  him  for  peace. 

In  these  fiery  words  the  audience  was  reminded  of 
the  consistent  hatred  which  Raleigh  had  always  shown 


152  Raleigh 

to  Spain,  and  of  the  services  which  he  himself,  now  a 
prisoner  at  the  bar,  had  performed  for  the  liberties  of 
England.  The  sympathies  of  the  spectators  began  to 
be  moved ;  those  who  had  execrated  Raleigh  most  felt 
that  they  had  been  deceived,  and  that  so  noble  an 
Englishman,  however  indiscreet  he  might  have  been, 
could  not  by  any  possibility  have  intrigued  with  the 
worst  enemies  of  England. 

Buttheprisoner  had  more  to  do  than  to  rouse  the  irre- 
sponsible part  of  his  audience  by  his  patriotic  eloquence. 
The  countenances  of  his  judges  remained  as  cold  to  him 
as  ever,  and  he  turned  to  the  serious  business  of  his 
defence.  His  quick  intelligence  saw  that  the  telling 
point  in  Coke's  diatribe  had  been  the  emphasis  he  had 
laid  on  Raleigh's  intimate  friendship  with  Cobham. 
He  began  to  try  and  explain  away  this  intimacy,  stating 
what  we  now  know  was  not  exactly  true,  namely  that  his 

*  privateness '  with  Cobham  only  concerned  business,  in 
which  the  latter  sought  to  make  use  of  his  experience. 
He  dwelt  on  Cobham's  wealth,  and  argued  that  so  rich 
a  man  would  not  venture  to  conspire.  All  this  part  of 
the  defence  seems  to  me  injudicious.  Raleigh  was  on 
safer  ground  in  making  another  sudden  appeal  to  the 
sentiment  of  the  court :  '  As  for  my  knowing  that  he  had 
conspired  all  these  things  against  Spain,  for  Arabella, 
and  against  the  King,  I  protest  before  Almighty  God  I 
am  as  clear  as  whosoever  here  is  freest.' 

After  a  futile  discussion  as  to  the  value  of  Cobham's 
evidence,  the  foreman  of  the  jury  asked  a  plain  question : 

*  I  desire  to  understand  the  time  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's 
first  letter,  and  of  the  Lord  Cobham's  accusation.' 
Upon  this  Cecil  spoke  for  the  first  time,  spinning  out  a 


The    Trial  at    Winchester  153 

long  and  completely  unintelligible  sentence  whicli  was 
to  serve  the  foreman  as  an  answer.  Before  the  jury 
could  recover  from  their  bewilderment,  this  extraordinary 
trial,  which  proceeded  like  an  Adventure  in  Wonder- 
land, was  begun  once  more  by  Coke,  who  started  afresh 
with  voluble  denunciation  of  the  defendant,  for  whom, 
he  said,  it  would  have  been  better  '  to  have  stayed  in 
Guiana  than  to  be  so  well  acquainted  with  the  state  of 
Spain.'  Coke  was  still  pouring  out  a  torrent  of  mere 
abuse,  when  Raleigh  suddenly  interrupted  him,  and 
addressing  the  judges,  claimed  that  Cobham  should  then 
and  there  be  brought  face  to  face  with  him.  Since  he 
had  been  in  the  Tower  he  had  been  studying  the  law, 
and  he  brought  forward  statutes  of  Edwards  III.  and  IV. 
to  support  his  contention  that  he  could  not  be  convicted 
on  Cobham's  bare  accusation.  The  long  speech  he 
made  at  this  point  was  a  masterpiece  of  persuasive 
eloquence,  and  it  is  worth  noting  that  Dudley  Carleton, 
who  was  in  court,  wrote  to  a  friend  that  though  when 
the  trial  began  he  would  have  gone  a  hundred  miles 
to  see  Raleigh  hanged,  when  it  had  reached  this  stage 
he  would  have  gone  a  thousand  to  save  his  life. 

The  judges,  however,  and  Popham  in  particular, 
were  not  so  moved,  and  Raleigh's  objection  to  the  evi- 
dence of  Cobham  was  overruled.  Coke  was  so  far  in- 
fluenced by  it  that  he  now  attempted  to  show  that  there 
was  other  proof  against  the  prisoner,  and  tried,  very 
awkwardly,  to  make  the  confessions  of  Watson  and 
George  Brooke  in  the  '  Bye '  tell  against  Raleigh  in  the 
^  Main.'  Raleigh's  unlucky  statement,  made  at  Windsor, 
to  the  effect  that  Cobham  had  offered  him  10,000  crowns, 
and  an  examination  in  which  Raleigh's  friend  Captain 


1 54  Raleigh 

Key  mis  admitted  a  private  interview  between  Cobham 
and  Raleigli  during  Count  Aremberg's  stay  in  London, 
were  then  read.  In  the  discussion  on  these  documents 
the  court  and  the  prisoner  fell  to  actual  wrangling ;  in 
the  buzz  of  voices  it  was  hard  to  tell  what  was  said,  until 
a  certain  impression  was  at  last  made  by  Coke,  who 
screamed  out  that  Raleigh  '  had  a  Spanish  heart  and 
was  a  spider  of  hell.'  This  produced  a  lull,  and  there- 
upon followed  an  iiTelevant  dispute  as  to  whether  or  no 
Raleigh  had  once  had  in  his  possession  a  book  contain- 
ing treasonable  allusions  to  the  claims  of  the  King  of 
Scotland.  Raleigh  admitted  the  possession  of  this  volume, 
and  said  that  Cecil  gave  him  leave  to  take  it  out  of  Lord 
Burghley's  library.  He  added  that  no  book  was  pub- 
lished towards  the  end  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  that 
did  not  pass  through  his  hands.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  know  whether  he  meant  that  he  exercised  a 
private  censorship  of  the  press,  or  that  he  bought  every- 
thing that  appeared.  At  all  events,  the  point  was 
allowed  to  drop. 

Raleigh  now  gave  his  attention  to  the  evidence 
which  Keymis  had  given  under  threat  of  the  rack. 
That  this  torture  had  been  threatened,  in  express 
disobedience  to  the  King's  order,  staggered  some  of  the 
commissioners,  and  covered  Sir  William  Waad  with 
confusion.  The  eliciting  of  this  fact  seems  to  have 
brought  over  to  Raleigh's  side  the  most  valuable  and 
unexpected  help,  for,  in  the  discussion  that  ensued,  Cecil 
suddenly  pleaded  that  Raleigh  should  be  allowed  fair 
play.  The  Attorney  then  brought  forward  the  case  of 
Arabella  Stuart,  and  a  fresh  sensation  was  presented 
to  the  audience,  who,  after  listeijing  to  Cecil,  were  sud- 


The   Trial  at    Winchester  155 

denly  thrilled  to  hear  a  voice  at  the  back  of  the  court 
shout,  ^  The  Lady  doth  here  protest,  upon  her  salvation, 
that  she  never  dealt  in  any  of  these  things.'  It  was  the 
voice  of  the  Earl  of  Nottingham,  who  had  entered  un- 
perceived,  and  who  was  standing  there  with  Arabella 
Stuart  on  his  arm.  Their  apparition  was  no  surprise  to 
the  judges ;  it  had  been  carefully  prearranged. 

The  trial  dragged  on  with  irrelevant  production  of 
evidence  by  Coke,  occasional  bullying  by  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice,  and  repeated  appeals  for  fairness  from 
Cecil,  who  cautiously  said  that  *  but  for  his  fault,'  he 
was  still  Ealeigh's  friend.  Posterity  has  laughed  at 
one  piece  of  the  Attorney's  evidence  : 

There  is  one  Dyer,  a  pilot,  that  being  in  Lisbon  met 
with  a  Portugal  gentleman,  which  asked  him  if  the  King 
of  England  was  crowned  yet.  To  whom  he  answered,  *  I 
think  not  yet,  but  he  shall  be  shortly.'  *  Nay,'  said  the 
Portugal,  *  that  shall  he  never  be,  for  his  throat  will  be 
cut  by  Don  Raleigh  and  Don  Cobham  before  he  be 
crowned.' 

A  prosecution  that  calls  for  evidence  such  as  this  has 
simply  broken  down.  The  whole  report  of  the  trial  is  so 
puerile,  that  it  can  only  be  understood  by  bearing  in 
mind  that,  as  Mr.  Gardiner  says,  the  Government  were 
in  possession  of  a  good  deal  of  evidence  which  they 
could  not  produce  in  court.  The  King  wished  to  spare 
Arabella,  and  to  accept  Aremberg's  protestations  with 
the  courtesy  due  to  an  ambassador.  It  was  therefore 
impossible  to  bring  forward  a  letter  which  Cecil  pos- 
sessed from  Cobham  to  Arabella,  and  two  from  Aremberg 
to  Cobham,  The  difficulty  was  not  to  prove  Cobham's 
guilt,  however,  but  to  connect  Raleigh  closely  enough 


156  Raleigh 

with  Cobliam,  and  this  Coke  went  on  labouring  to  do. 
At  last  he  laid  a  trap  for  Ealeigh.  He  induced  him  to 
argue  on  the  subject,  and  then  Coke  triumphantly  drew 
from  his  pocket  a  long  letter  Cobham  had  written  to 
the  commissioners  the  day  before,  a  letter  in  which 
Cobham  disclosed  all  the  secret  correspondence  Raleigh 
had  had  with  him  since  his  imprisonment,  and  even  the 
picturesque  story  of  the  letter  that  was  bound  round  the 
apple  and  thrown  into  Cobham 's  window  in  the  Tower. 
At  the  production  of  this  document,  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  fairly  lost  his  self-possession.  He  had  no  idea 
that  any  of  these  facts  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Govern- 
ment. His  bewilderment  and  dejection  soon,  however, 
left  him  sufficiently  for  him  to  recollect  the  other  letter 
of  Cobham's  which  he  possessed.  He  drew  it  from  his 
pocket,  and,  Cobham's  writing  being  very  bad,  he  could 
not,  from  his  agitation,  read  it ;  Coke  desired  that  it 
should  not  be  produced,  but  Cecil  interposed  once 
more,  and  volunteered  to  read  it  aloud.  This  letter 
was  Raleigh's  last  effort.  He  said,  when  Cecil  had 
finished, '  Now,  my  masters,  you  have  heard  both.  That 
showed  against  me  is  but  a  voluntary  confession.  This 
is  under  oath,  and  the  deepest  protestations  a  Christian 
man  can  make.  Therefore  believe  which  of  these  hath 
more  force.'  The  jury  then  retired  ;  and  in  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  returned  with  the  verdict  '  Guilty.'  Raleigh 
had,  in  fact,  confessed  that  Cobham  had  mentioned  the 
plot  to  him,  though  nothing  would  induce  him  to  admit 
that  he  had  asked  Cobham  for  a  sum  of  money,  or  con- 
sented to  take  any  active  part.  Still  this  was  enough ; 
and  in  the  face  of  his  unfortunate  prevarication  about 
the  interview  with  Renzi,  the   jury  could  hardly  act 


The   Trial  at   Winchester  157 

otherwise.  For  a  summing  up  of  both  sides  of  the 
vexed  question  what  shadow  of  truth  there  was  in  the 
general  accusation,  the  reader  may  be  recommended  to 
Mr.  Gardiner's  brilliant  pages. 

Raleigh  had  defended  himself  with  great  courage 
and  intelligence,  and  the  crowd  in  court  were  by  no 
means  in  sympathy  with  the  brutal  and  violent  address 
in  which  Popham  gave  judgment.  On  the  very  day  on 
which  Raleigh  was  condemned,  there  began  that  re- 
action in  his  favour  which  has  been  proceeding  ever 
since.  When  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  called  the  noble 
prisoner  a  traitor  and  an  atheist,  the  bystanders,  who 
after  all  were  Englishmen,  though  they  had  met  pre- 
pared to  tear  Raleigh  limb  from  limb,  could  bear  it  no 
longer,  and  they  hissed  the  judge,  as  a  little  before  they 
had  hooted  Coke.  To  complete  the  strangeness  of  this 
strange  trial,  when  sentence  had  been  passed,  Raleigh 
advanced  quickly  up  the  court,  unprevented,  and  spoke 
to  Cecil  and  one  or  two  other  commissioners,  asking,  as 
a  favour,  that  the  King  would  permit  Cobham  to  die 
first.  Before  he  was  secured  by  the  officers,  he  had 
found  time  for  this  last  protest :  '  Cobham  is  a  false 
and  cowardly  accuser.  He  can  face  neither  me  nor 
death  without  acknowledging  his  falsehood.'  He  was 
then  led  away  to  gaol. 

For  a  month  Raleigh  was  retained  at  Winchester. 
He  found  a  friend,  almost  the  only  one  who  dared  to 
speak  for  him,  in  Lady  Pembroke,  the  saintly  sister  of 
Sir  Philip  Sidney,  who  showed  veteris  vestigia  flammce, 
the  embers  of  the  old  love  Raleigh  had  met  with  from 
her  brother's  family,  and  sent  her  son,  Lord  Pembroke, 
to  the  King.      She  did  little  good,  and   Raleigh   did 


158  Raleigh 

still  less  by  a  letter  lie  now  wrote  to  James,  the  first 
personal  appeal  lie  had  made  to  his  Majesty.  It  was  a 
humble  entreaty  for  life,  begging  the  King  to  listen  to 
the  charitable  advice  which  the  English  law,  *  knowing 
her  own  cruelty,  doth  give  to  her  superior,'  to  be 
pitiful  more  than  just.  This  letter  has  been  thought 
obsequious  and  unmanly ;  but  it  abates  no  jot  of  the 
author's  asseverations  that  he  was  innocent  of  all  offence, 
and,  surely,  in  the  very  face  of  death  a  man  may  be  ex- 
cused for  writing  humbly  to  a  despot.  Lady  Kaleigh, 
meanwhile,  was  clinging  about  the  knees  of  Cecil,  whose 
demeanour  during  the  trial  had  given  her  fresh  hopes. 
But  neither  the  King  nor  Cecil  gave  any  sign,  and  in  the 
gathering  reaction  in  favour  of  Raleigh  remained  appa- 
rently firm  for  punishment.  The  whole  body  of  the 
accused  were  by  this  time  convicted,  Watson  and  all 
his  companions  on  the  16th,  Raleigh  on  the  17th, 
Cobham  and  Gray  on  the  18th.  On  the  29th  Watson 
and  Clarke,  the  other  priest,  were  executed.  Next 
day,  the  Spanish  ambassador  pleaded  for  Raleigh's  life, 
but  was  repulsed.  The  King  desired  the  clergy  who 
attended  the  surviving  prisoners  to  prepare  them  rigor- 
ously for  death,  and  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  gave 
Raleigh  no  hope.  On  December  6,  George  Brooke  was 
executed.  And  now  James  seems  to  have  thought  that 
enough  blood  had  been  spilt.  He  would  find  out  the 
truth  by  collecting  dying  confessions  from  culprits  who, 
after  all,  should  not  die. 

The  next  week  was  occupied  with  the  performance 
of  the  curious  burlesque  which  James  had  invented. 
The  day  after  George  Brooke  was  beheaded,  the  King 
drew  up  a  warrant  to  the  Sheriff  of  Hampshire  for  stay 


The   Trial  at    Winchester  I59 

of  all  the  other  executions.  With  this  document  in  his 
bosom,  he  signed  death-warrants  for  Markham,  Gray, 
and  Cobham  to  be  beheaded  on  the  10th,  and  Raleigh 
on  the  13th.  The  King  told  nobody  of  his  intention, 
except  a  Scotch  boy,  John  Gibb,  who  was  his  page 
at  the  moment.  On  December  10,  at  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  desired  to  come 
to  the  window  of  his  cell  in  Wolvesey  Castle.  The 
night  before,  he  had  written  an  affecting  letter  of  fare- 
well to  his  wife,  and— such,  at  least,  is  my  personal 
conviction  from  the  internal  evidence— the  most  extra- 
ordinary and  most  brilliant  of  his  poems,  The  Pilgrimage, 
By  this  time  he  was  sorry  that  he  had  bemeaned 
himself  in  his  first  paroxysm  of  despair,  and  he 
entreated  Lady  Raleigh  to  try  to  get  back  the  letters 
in  which  he  sued  for  his  life,  '  for,'  he  said,  '  I  disdain 
myself  for  begging  it/     He  went  on  : 

Know  it,  dear  wife,  that  your  son  is  the  child  of  a  true 
man,  and  who,  in  his  own  respect,  despiseth  Death,  and  all 
his  misshapen  and  ugly  forms.  I  cannot  write  much,  God 
knows  how  hardly  I  stole  this  time,  when  all  sleep  ;  and  it 
is  time  to  separate  my  thoughts  from  the  world.  Beg  my 
dead  body,  which  living  was  denied  you  ;  and  either  lay  it 
at  Sherborne,  if  the  land  continue  [yours],  or  in  Exeter 
Church,  by  my  father  and  mother.  I  can  write  no  more. 
Time  and  Death  call  me  away. 

From  his  window  overlooking  the  Castle  Green, 
Raleigh  saw  Markham,  a  very  monument  of  melancholy, 
led  through  the  steady  rain  to  the  scaffold.  He  saw  the 
Sheriff  presently  called  away,  but  could  not  see  the 
Scotch  lad  who  called  him,  who  was  Gibb  riding  in 
with  the  reprieve.  He  could  see  Markham  standing 
15 


i6o  Raleigh 

before  the  block,  he  could  see  the  Sheriff  return,  speak 
in  a  low  voice  to  Markham,  and  lead  him  away  into 
Arthur's  Hall  and  lock  him  up  there.  He  could  then 
see  Grey  led  out,  he  could  see  his  face  light  up  with  f* 
gleam  of  hope,  as  he  stealthily  stirred  the  wet  straAV 
with  his  foot  and  perceived  there  was  no  blood  there. 
He  could  see,  though  he  could  not  hear,  Gray's  lips 
move  in  the  prayer  in  which  he  made  his  protestation  of 
innocence,  and  as  he  stood  ready  at  the  block,  he  could 
see  the  Sheriff  speak  to  him  also,  and  lead  him  away, 
and  lock  him  up  with  Markham  in  Arthur's  Hall.  Then 
Raleigh,  wondering  more  and  more,  so  violently  curious 
that  the  crowd  below  noticed  his  eager  expression,  could 
see  Cobham  brought  out,  weeping  and  muttering,  in  a 
lamentable  disorder;  he  could  see  him  praying,  and 
when  the  prayer  was  over,  he  could  see  the  Sheriff 
leave  him  to  stand  alone,  trembling,  on  the  scaffold, 
while  he  went  to  fetch  Grey  and  Markham  from  their 
prison.  Then  he  could  see  the  trio,  Avith  an  odd  expres- 
sion of  hope  in  their  faces,  stand  side  by  side  a  moment, 
to  be  harangued  by  the  Sheriff,  and  then  suddenly  on 
his  bewildered  ears  rang  out  the  plaudits  of  the  assem- 
bled crowd,  all  Winchester  clapping  its  hands  because 
the  King  had  mercifully  saved  the  lives  of  the  prisoners. 
And  still  the  steady  rain  kept  falling  as  the  Castle  Green 
grew  empty,  and  Raleigh  at  his  window  was  left  alone  with 
his  bewilderment.  He  was  very  soon  told  that  he  also 
was  spared,  and  on  December  16,  1603,  he  was  taken 
back  to  the  Tower  of  London.  Such  was  James's  curious 
but  not  altogether  inhuman  sketch  for  a  burlesque. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

IN   THE   TOWER. 

It  is  no  longer  possible  for  us  to  follow  tlie  personal 
life  of  Raleigh  as  we  have  hitherto  been  doing,  step  by 
step.  In  the  deep  monotony  of  confinement,  twelve 
years  passed  over  him  without  leaving  any  marks  of 
months  or  days  upon  his  chronicle  of  patience.  A 
hopeless  prisoner  ceases  to  take  any  interest  in  the 
passage  of  time,  and  Raleigh's  few  letters  from  the 
Tower  are  almost  all  of  them  undated.  His  comfort 
had  its  vicissitudes ;  he  was  now  tormented,  now  in- 
dulged. A  whisper  from  the  outer  world  would  now 
give  him  back  a  gleam  of  hope,  now  a  harsh  answer 
would  complete  again  the  darkness  of  his  hopelessness. 
He  was  vexed  with  ill-health,  and  yet  from  the  age  of 
fifty-one  to  that  of  sixty-three  the  inherent  vigour  of  his 
constitution,  and  his  invincible,  desire  to  live,  were 
unabated.  From  all  his  pains  and  sorrows  he  took 
refuge,  as  so  many  have  done  before  him,  in  the  one 
unfailing  Nepenthe,  the  consolatory  self-forgetfulness  of 
literature.  It  was  in  the  Tower  that  the  main  bulk  of 
his  voluminous  writings  were  produced. 

He  was  confined  in  the  upper  story  of  what  was 
called  the  Garden  Tower,  now  the  Bloody  Tower,  and 
not,  as  is  so  often  said,  in  the  White  Tower,  so  that  the 


1 62  Raleigh 

little  cell  with  a  dim  arched  light,  the  Chapel  Crypt  off 
Queen  Elizabeth's  Armoury,  which  used  to  be  pointed 
out  to  visitors  as  the  dungeon  in  which  Ealeigh  wrote 
The  History  of  the  World,  never,  in  all  probability, 
heard  the  sound  of  his  footsteps.  It  is  a  myth  that  he 
was  confined  at  all  in  such  a  dungeon  as  this.  Accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Loftie,  his  apartments  were  those  immediately 
above  the  principal  gate  to  the  Inner  Ward,  and  had, 
besides  a  window  looking  westward  out  of  the  Tower, 
an  entrance  to  themselves  at  a  higher  level,  the  level 
of  the  Lieutenant's  and  Constable's  lodgings.  They 
probably  opened  directly  into  a  garden  which  has  since 
been  partly  built  over. 

Raleigh  was  comfortably  lodged ;  it  was  Sir  William 
Waad's  complaint  that  the  rooms  were  too  spacious. 
Lady  Raleigh  and  her  son  shared  them  with  him  for 
a  considerable  time,  and  Sir  Walter  was  never  with- 
out three  personal  servants.  He  was  poor,  in  comparison 
with  his  former  opulent  estate,  but  he  was  never  in 
want.  Sherborne  just  sufficed  for  six  years  to  supply 
such  needs  as  presented  themselves  to  a  prisoner.  His 
personal  expenses  in  the  Tower  slightly  exceeded  200Z., 
or  1,000^  of  our  money  ;  there  was  left  a  narrow 
margin  for  Lady  Raleigh.  The  months  of  January 
and  February  1604  were  spent  in  trying  to  make  the 
best  terms  possible  for  his  wife  and  son.  In  a  letter  to 
the  Lords  of  the  Council,  Raleigh  mentions  that  he  has 
lost  3,0001.  (or  15,000Z.  in  Victorian  money)  a  year  by 
being  deprived  of  his  five  main  sources  of  income,  namely 
the  Governorship  of  Jersey,  the  Patent  of  the  Wine 
Office,  the  Wardenship  of  the  Stannaries,  the  Rangership 
of  Gillingham  Forest,  and  the  Lieutenancy  of  Portland 


In  the   Tower  163 

Castle.  He  besought  that  he  might  not  be  reduced  to 
utter  beggary,  and  he  did  his  best  to  retain  the  Duchy 
of  Cornwall  and  his  estates  at  Sherborne.  The  former,  as 
he  might  have  supposed,  could  not  be  left  in  the  charge 
of  a  prisoner.  It  was  given  to  a  friend,  to  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  and  Raleigh  showed  a  dangerous  obstinacy 
in  refusing  to  give  up  the  Seal  of  the  Duchy  direct  to  the 
Earl ;  he  was  presently  induced  to  resign  it  into  Cecil's 
hands,  and  then  nothing  but  Sherborne  remained.  His 
debts  were  3,000Z.  His  rich  collections  of  plate  and 
tapestry  had  been  confiscated  or  stolen.  If  the  King 
permitted  Sherborne  also  to  be  taken,  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  meet  the  exorbitant  charges  of  the  Lieutenant, 
and  under  these  circumstances  it  is  only  too  probable 
that  Raleigh  might  have  been  obliged  to  crouch  in  the 
traditional  dungeon  ten  feet  by  eight  feet.  The  retention 
of  Sherborne,  then,  meant  comfort  and  the  status  of  a 
gentleman.  Jt  is  therefore  of  the  highest  interest  to  us 
to  see  what  had  become  of  Sherborne. 

We  have  seen  that  up  to  the  date  of  the  trial  Cecil 
held  at  bay  the  Scottish  jackals  who  went  prowling 
round  the  rich  Dorsetshire  manor ;  and  when  the  trial 
was  over,  Cecil,  as  Lady  Raleigh  said,  *  hath  been  our 
only  comfort  in  our  lamentable  misfortune.'  As  soon 
as  Raleigh  was  condemned,  commissioners  hastened 
down  to  Sherborne  and  began  to  prepare  the  division 
of  the  prize.  They  sold  the  cattle,  and  began  to  root  up 
the  copses.  They  made  •  considerable  progress  in  dis- 
mantling the  house  itself.  Raleigh  appealed  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Council,  and  Cecil  sent  down  two  rustees, 
who,  in  February  1604,  put  a  sudden  stop  to  all  this 
havoCj  and  sent  the  commissioners  about  their  business. 


1 64  Raleigh 

Of  the  latter,  one  was  the  infamous  Meeres,  Kaleigh's 
former  bailiff,  and  this  fact  was  particmlarly  galling  to 
Haleigh.  On  July  30  in  the  same  year,  Sherborne 
Castle  and  the  surrounding  manors  were  conveyed  to 
Sir  Alexander  Brett  and  others  in  trust  for  Lady 
Raleigh  and  her  son  Walter,  Sir  Walter  nominally 
forfeiting  the  life  interest  in  the  estates  which  he  had 
reserved  to  himself  in  the  conveyance  of  1602.  On  the 
moneys  collected  by  these  trustees  Lady  Raleigh  sup- 
ported herself  and  her  husband  also.  She  was  not  turned 
out  of  the  castle  at  first.  Twice  at  least  in  1605  we  find 
her  there,  on  the  second  occasion  causing  all  the  armour 
to  be  scoured.  Some  persons  afterwards  considered  that 
this  act  was  connected  with  Gunpowder  Plot,  others 
maintained  that  it  was  merely  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
armour  was  rusty.  The  great  point  is  that  she  was 
still  mistress  of  Sherborne.  Lord  Justice  Popham,  how- 
ever, as  early  as  1604,  pronounced  Raleigh's  act  of 
conveyance  invalid,  and  in  1608  negotiations  began  for 
a  '■  purchase,'  or  rather  a  confiscation  of  Sherborne  to 
the  King.  To  this  we  shall  presently  return.  In  the 
meanwhile  Captain  Keymis  acted  as  warden  of  Sher- 
borne Castle. 

As  soon  as  the  warm  weather  closed  in,  in  the 
Bummer  of  1604,  the  malaria  in  the  Tower  began  to 
affect  Raleigh's  health.  As  he  tells  Cecil,  now  Lord 
Cranborne,  in  a  most  dolorous  letter,  he  was  withering 
in  body  and  mind.  The  plague  had  c6me  close  to  him, 
his  son  having  lain  a  fortnight  with  only  a  paper  wall 
between  him  and  a  woman  whose  child  was  dying  of  that 
terrible  complaint.  Lady  Raleigh,  at  last,  had  been 
able  to  bear  the  terror  of  infection  no  longer,  and  had 


In  the   Tower  165 

departed  with  little  Walter.  Kaleigli  thereupon,  in  a 
fit  of  extreme  dejection,  *  presumed  to  tell  their  Lord- 
ships of  his  miserable  estate,  daily  in  danger  of  death  by 
the  palsy,  nightly  of  suffocation  by  wasted  and  obstructed 
lungs.'  He  entreated  to  be  removed  to  more  wholesome 
lodgings.  His  prayer  was  not  answered.  Earlier  in  the 
year  he  had  indeed  enjoyed  a  short  excursion  from  the 
Tower.  At  Easter  the  King  had  come  to  attend  a  bull- 
baiting  on  Tower  Hill,  and  Raleigh  was  hastily  removed 
to  the  Fleet  prison  beforehand,  lest  the  etiquette  of  such 
occasions  should  oblige  James,  against  his  inclination,  to 
give  obnoxious  prisoners  their  liberty.  Raleigh  was  one 
of  five  persons  so  hurried  to  the  Fleet  on  March  25  :  on 
the  next  day  the  King  came,  and  '  caused  all  the  prisons 
of  the  Tower  to  be  opened,  and  all  the  persons  then  within 
them  to  be  released.'  After  the  bull-baiting  was  over, 
the  excepted  prisoners  were  quietly  brought  back  again. 
This  little  change  was  all  the  variety  that  Raleigh 
enjoyed  until  he  left  for  Guiana  in  1617. 

When  it  transpired  in  1605  that  through,  as  it 
appears,  the  negligence  of  the  copying  clerk,  the  con- 
veyance by  which  Raleigh  thought  that  he  had  secured 
Sherborne  to  his  son  was  null  and  void,  he  had  to  suffer 
from  a  vindictive  attack  from  his  wife  herself.  She, 
poor  woman,  had  now  for  nearly  two  years  bustled 
hither  and  thither,  intriguing  in  not  always  the  most 
judicious  manner  for  her  family,  but  never  resting, 
never  leaving  a  stone  unturned  which  might  lead 
to  their  restitution.  The  sudden  discovery  that  the 
lawyers  had  found  a  flaw  in  the  conveyance  was  more 
than  her  overstrung  nerves  could  endure,  and  in  a  fit  of 
temper  she  attacked  her  husband,  and  rushed  about  the 


1 66  Raleigh 

town  denouncing  liim.  Raleigh,  in  deepest  depression 
of  mind  and  body,  wrote  to  Cecil,  who  had  now  taken 
another  upward  step  in  the  hierarchy  of  James's  protean 
House  of  Lords,  and  who  was.  Earl  of  Salisbury  hence- 
forwai'd : 

Of  the  true  cause  of  my  importunities,  one  is,  that  I  am 
every  second  or  third  night  in  danger  either  of  sudden 
death,  or  of  the  loss  of  my  Hmbs  or  sense,  being  sometimes 
two  hours  without  feeling  or  motion  of  my  hand  and  whole 
arm.  I  complain  not  of  it.  I  know  it  vain,  for  there  is 
none  that  hath  compassion  thereof.  The  other,  that  I  shall 
be  made  more  than  weary  of  my  life  by  her  crying  and  be- 
wailing, who  will  return  in  post  when  she  hears  of  your 
Lordship's  departure,  and  nothing  done.  She  hath  already 
brought  her  eldest  son  in  one  hand,  and  her  sucking  child 
[Carew  Raleigh,  born  in  the  winter  of  1604]  in  another, 
crying  out  of  her  and  their  destruction  ;  charging  me  with 
unnatural  negligence,  and  that  having  provided  for  my  own 
life,  I  am  without  sense  and  compassion  of  theirs.  These 
torments,  added  to  my  desolate  life — receiving  nothing  but 
torments,  and  where  I  should  look  for  some  comfort, 
together  with  the  consideration  of  my  cruel  destiny,  my 
days  and  times  worn  out  in  trouble  and  imprisonment — is 
sufficient  either  utterly  to  distract  me,  or  to  make  me  curse 
the  time  that  ever  I  was  bom  into  the  world,  and  had  a 
being. 

Things  were  not  commonly  in  so  bad  a  way  as  this, 
we  may  be  sure.  Raleigh,  who  did  nothing  by  halves, 
was  not  accustomed  to  underrate  his  own  misfortunes. 
His  health  was  uncertain,  indeed,  and  it  was  still  worse 
in  1606 ;  but  his  condition  otherwise  was  not  so  de- 
plorable as  this  letter  would  tend  to  prove.  Poor  Lady 
Raleigh  soon  recovered  her  equanimity,  and  the  Lieu- 


In  the    Tower  167 

tenant  of  the  Tower,  Sir  George  Harvey,  indulged 
Raleigh  in  a  variety  of  ways.  He  frequently  invited 
him  to  his  table;  and  finding  that  the  prisoner  was 
engaged  in  various  chemical  experiments,  he  lent  him 
his  private  garden  to  set  up  his  still  in.  In  one  of 
Raleigh's  few  letters  of  this  period,  we  get  a  delight- 
ful little  vignette.  Raleigh  is  busy  working  in  the 
garden,  and,  the  pale  being  down,  the  charming  young 
Lady  Effingham,  his  old  friend  Nottingham's  daughter, 
strolls  by  along  the  terrace  on  the  arm  of  the  Countess 
of  Beaumont.  The  ladies  lean  over  the  paling,  and 
watch  the  picturesque  old  magician  poring  over  his 
crucibles,  his  face  lighted  up  with  the  flames  from  his 
furnace.  They  fall  a  chatting  with  him,  and  Lady 
Effingham  coaxes  him  to  spare  her  a  little  of  that  famous 
balsam  which  he  brought  back  from  G-uiana.  He  tells 
her  that  he  has  none  prepared,  but  that  he  will  send  her 
some  by  their  common  friend  Captain  Whitlock,  and 
presently  he  does  so.  A  captivity  which  admitted  such 
communications  with  the  outer  world  as  this,  could  not 
but  have  had  its  alleviations. 

The  letter  quoted  on  the  last  page  evidently  belongs 
to  the  summer  of  1605,  when,  for  a  few  months,  Raleigh 
was  undoubtedly  in  great  discomfort.  On  August  15,  Sir 
George  Harvey  was  succeeded  by  Sir  William  Waad, 
who  had  shown  Raleigh  great  severity  before  his  trial. 
He,  however,  although  not  well  disposed,  shrank  from 
actually  ill-treating  his  noble  prisoner.  He  hinted  to 
Lord  Salisbury  that  he  wanted  the  garden  for  his  own 
use,  and  that  he  thought  the  paling  an  insufficient 
barrier  between  Raleigh  and  the  world.  Meanwhile 
Salisbury   did  not   take  the  hint,  and   the  brick  wall 


1 68  .  Raleigh 

Waad  wished  built  up  was  not  begun.  Waad  evidently 
looked  upon  the  chemical  experiments  with  suspicion. 
^  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,'  he  wrote,  ^  hath  converted  a  little 
hen-house  in  the  garden  into  a  still,  where  he  doth 
spend  his  time  all  the  day  in  his  distillations.'  Some 
of  the  remedies  which  the  prisoner  invented  became 
exceedingly  popular.  His  ^  lesser  cordial '  of  strawberry 
water  was  extensively  used  by  ladies,  and  his  *  great 
cordial,'  which  was  understand  to  contain  ^  whatever  is 
most  choice  and  sovereign  in  the  animal,  vegetable,  and 
mineral  world,'  continued  to  be  a  favourite  panacea 
until  the  close  of  the  century. 

When,  in  November,  Gunpowder  Plot  was  discovered, 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  for  a  moment  suspected.  No 
evidence  was  found  inculpating  him  in  the  slightest 
degree ;  but  his  life  was,  for  the  moment  at  least,  made 
distinctly  harder.  W^hen  he  returned  from  examination, 
the  wall  which  Waad  had  desired  to  put  between  the 
prisoner  and  the  public  was  in  course  of  construction. 
When  finished  it  was  not  very  formidable,  for  Waad 
complains  that  Raleigh  was  in  the  habit  of  standing 
upon  it,  in  the  sight  of  passers-by.  The  increased  con- 
finement in  the  spring  of  1606  brought  his  ill-health  to 
a  climax.  He  thought  he  was  about  to  suffer  an  apo- 
plectic seizure,  and  he  was  allowed  to  take  medical 
advice.  The  doctor's  certificate,  dated  March  26, 1606, 
is  still  in  existence  ;  it  describes  his  paralytic  symptoms, 
and  recommends  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  should  be 
removed  from  the  cold  lodging  which  he  was  occupying 
to  the  ^  little  room  he  hath  built  in  the  garden,  and 
joining  his  still-house,'  which  would  be  warmer.  This 
seems  to  have  been  done,  and  Raleigh's  health  improved. 


In  the   Tower  169 

During  the  year  1606  various  attempts  were  made 
to  persuade  the  King  to  release  Raleigh,  but  in  vain. 
The  Queen  had  made  his  acquaintance,  and  had  become 
his  friend,  and  there  was  a  general  hope  that  when  her 
father,  the  King  of  Denmark,  came  over  to  see  James 
in  the  summer,  he  would  plead  for  Raleigh.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  if  he  had  done  so  with  success, 
he  would  have  invited  Raleigh  to  return  with  him,  and 
to  become  Admiral  of  the  Danish  fleet.  But  matters 
never  got  so  far  as  this.  James  I.  had  an  inkling  of  what 
was  coming,  and  he  took  an  early  opportunity  of  saying 
to  Christian  IV., '  Promise  me  that  you  will  be  no  man's 
solicitor.'  In  spite  of  this,  before  he  left  England, 
Christian  did  ask  for  Raleigh's  pardon,  and  was  refused. 
When  he  had  left  England,  and  all  hope  was  over,  in 
September,  Lady  Raleigh  made  her  way  to  Hampton 
Court,  and,  pushing  her  way  into  the  King's  presence, 
fell  on  her  knees  at  his  feet.  James  went  by,  and 
neither  spoke  nor  looked  at  her.  It  must  have  been  about 
this  time,  or  a  little  later,  that  Queen  Anne  brought 
her  unfortunate  eldest  son  Henry  to  visit  Raleigh  at 
the  Tower.  Prince  Henry,  born  in  1594,  was  now  only 
twelve  years  of  age.  His  intimacy  with  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  belongs  rather  to  the  years  1610  to  1612. 

In  February  1607,  Raleigh  was  exposed  to  some 
annoyance  from  Edward  Cotterell,  the  servant  who  in 
1603  had  carried  his  injudicious  correspondence  with 
Lord  Cobham  to  and  fro.  This  man  had  remained  in 
Lady  Raleigh's  service,  and  attended  on  her  in  her  little 
house,  opposite  her  husband's  rooms,  on  Tower  Hill. 
He  professed  to  be  able  to  give  evidence  against  his 
master,    but   in   examination   before    the   Lord    Chief 


170  Raleigh 

Justice  nothing  intelligible  could  be  extracted  from  him. 
About  the  same  time  we  find  Raleigh,  encouraged,  it 
would  appear,  by  the  Queen,  proposing  to  Lord  Salisbury 
that  he  should  be  allowed  to  go  to  Guiana  on  an  expe- 
dition for  gold.  It  is  pathetic  to  read  the  earnest 
phrases  in  which  he  tries  to  wheedle  out  of  the  cold 
Minister  permission  to  set  out  westward  once  more 
across  the  ocean  that  he  loved  so  much.  He  offers,  lest 
he  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  runagate,  to  leave  his 
wife  and  children  behind  him  as  hostages;  and  the 
Queen  and  Lord  Salisbury  may  have  the  treasure  he 
brings  back,  if  only  he  may  go.  He  pleads  how  rich 
the  land  is,  and  how  no  one  knows  the  way  to  it  as  he 
does.  We  seem  to  hear  the  very  accents  of  another 
weary  King  of  the  Sea : 

'  Tis  not  too  late  to  seek  a  newer  world  ; 
Push  off,  and  sitting  well  in  order  smite 
The  sounding  furrows  ;  for  my  purpose  holds 
To  sail  beyond  the  sunset,  and  the  baths 
Of  all  the  western  stars  until  I  die. 

Such  was  Raleigh's  purpose ;  but  it  was  not  that  of 
James  and  of  Salisbury.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  kept  a 
faster  prisoner.  In  July  1607,  fresh  regulations  came 
into  force  in  the  Tower,  by  which  at  5  p.m.  Raleigh  and 
his  servants  had  to  retire  to  their  own  apartments,  and 
Lady  Raleigh  go  back  to  her  house,  nor  were  guests 
any  longer  to  be  admitted  in  the  evening.  Lady 
Raleigh  had  particularly  offended  Sir  William  Waad  by 
driving  into  the  Tower  in  her  coach.  She  was  informed 
that  she  must  do  so  no  more.  It  was  probably  these 
long  quiet  evenings  which  specially  predisposed  Raleigh 


In  the    Tower  171 

to  literary  composition.  He  borrowed  books,  mainly 
of  an  historical  character,  in  all  directions.  A  letter 
to  Sir  Robert  Cotton  is  extant  in  which  he  desires  the 
loan  of  no  less  than  thirteen  obscure  and  bulky  histo- 
rians, and  we  may  imagine  his  silent  evenings  spent  in 
poring  over  the  precious  manuscripts  of  the  Annals  of 
Teiukeshury  and  the  Chronicle  of  Evesham.  In  this  year 
young  Walter  Raleigh,  now  fourteen  years  of  age,  pro- 
ceeded to  Oxford,  and  matriculated  at  Corpus  on  October 
30,  1607.  Kis  tutors  were  a  certain  Hooker,  and  the 
brilliant  young  theologian.  Dr.  Daniel  Featley,  afterwards 
to  be  famous  as  a  controversial  divine.  Throughout 
the  year  1608,  Raleigh,  buried  in  his  History,  makes 
no  sign  to  us. 

Early  in  1609,  the  uncertain  tenure  of  Sherborne, 
which  had  vexed  Raleigh  so  much  that  he  declared 
himself  ready  to  part  with  the  estate  in  exchange  for 
the  pleasure  of  never  hearing  of  it  again,  once  more 
came  definitely  before  the  notice  of  the  Government.  A 
proposition  had  been  made  to  Raleigh  to  sell  his  right 
in  it  to  the  King,  but  he  had  refused ;  he  said  that  it 
belonged  to  his  wife  and  child,  and  that  '  those  that 
never  had  a  fee-simple  could  not  grant  a  fee-simple.' 
About  Christmas  1608  Lady  Raleigh  brought  the 
matter  up  again,  and  leading  her  sons  by  the  hand  she 
appeared  in  the  Presence  Chamber,  and  besought  James 
to  give  them  a  new  conveyance,  with  no  flaw  in  it. 
But  the  King  had  determined  to  seize  Sherborne,  and 
he  told  her,  '  I  maun  hae  the  lond,  I  maun  hae  it  for 
Carr.'  It  is  said  that,  losing  all  patience,  Elizabeth 
Raleigh  started  to  her  feet,  and  implored  God  to  punish 
this  robbery  of  her  household.  Sir  Walter  was  more 
16 


172  Raleigh 

politic,  and  on  January  2,  1609,  lie  wrote  a  letter  to  tiie 
favourite,  imploring  him  not  to  covet  Sherborne.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  Ealeigh,  whose  opinion  of  James's 
minions  was  not  on  private  occasions  concealed,  should 
write  to  Carr  of  all  people  in  England  as  ^  one  whom  I 
know  not,  but  by  an  honourable  fame ; '  and  that  the 
eloquence  of  his  appeal  should  be  thrown  away  on  such 
a  recipient.  '  For  yourself.  Sir,'  he  says,  '  seeing  your 
day  is  but  now  in  the  dawn,  and  mine  come  to  the 
evening,  your  own  virtues  and  the  King's  grace  assuring 
you  of  many  good  fortunes  and  much  honour,  I  be- 
seech you  not  to  begin  your  first  building  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  innocent ;  and  that  their  griefs  and  sorrows 
do  not  attend  your  first  plantation.'  Carr,  of  course, 
took  no  notice  whatever,  and  on  the  10th  of  the  same 
month  the  estates  at  Sherborne  were  bestowed  on  him. 
At  Prince  Henry's  request  the  King  presently  purchased 
them  back  again,  and  gave  them  to  his  son,  who  soon 
after  died.  Mr.  Edwards  has  discovered  that  Sherborne 
passed  through  eight  successive  changes  of  ownership 
before  1617.  To  Lady  Raleigh  and  her  children  the 
King  gave  8,000Z.  as  purchase-money  of  the  life  secu- 
rity in  Sherborne.  The  interest  on  this  sum  was 
very  irregularly  paid,  and  the  Guiana  voyage  in  1617 
swallowed  up  most  of  the  principal.  Thus  the  vast  and 
princely  fortune  of  Raleigh  melted  away  like  a  drift  of 
snow. 

In  the  summer  of  1611,  Raleigh  came  into  collision 
with  Lord  Salisbury  and  Lord  Northampton  on  some 
matter  at  present  obscure.  Northampton  writes  :  '  We 
had  afterwards  a  bout  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in 
whom  we  find  no  change,  but  the  same  blindness,  pride, 


In  the   Tower  i73 

and  passion  that  heretofore  hatli  wrought  more  violently, 
but  never  expressed  itself  in  a  stranger  fashion.'   In  con- 
sequence of  their  interview  with  Raleigh  and  other  pri- 
soners, the  Lords  recommended  that  'the  lawless  liberty' 
of  the  Tower  should  no  longer  be  allowed  to  cocker  and 
foster  exorbitant  hopes  in  the  braver  sort  of  captives. 
Raleigh  was  immediately  placed  under  closer  restraint, 
not  even  being  allowed  to  take  his  customary  walk  with 
his  keeper  up  the  hill  within  the  Tower.      His  private 
garden  and  gallery  were  taken  from  him,  and  his  wife 
was  almost  entirely  excluded  from  his  company.     The 
final  months  of  Salisbury's  life  were  unfavourable  to 
Raleigh,  and  there  was  no  quickening  of  the  old  friend- 
ship Tt  the  last.   When  Lord  Salisbury  died  on  May  24, 
1612,  Raleigh  wrote  this  epigram: 

Here  lies  Hobinall  our  pastor  whilere, 
That  once  in  a  quarter  our  fleeces  did  sheer  ; 
To  please  us,  his  cur  he  kept  under  clog, 
And  was  ever  after  both  shepherd  and  dog ; 
For  oblation  to  Pan,  his  custom  was  thus. 
He  first  gave  a  trifle,  then  offered  up  us  ; 
And  through  his  false  worship  such  power  he  did  gain, 
As  kept  him  on  the  mountain,  and  us  on  the  plain. 
When  these  lines  were  shown  to  James  I.  he  said  he 
hoped  that  the  man  who  wrote  them  would  die  before 

he  did. 

The  death  of  Salisbury  encouraged  Raleigh  once 
more.  His  intimacy  with  the  generous  and  promising 
Prince  of  Wales  had  quickened  his  hopes.  During  the 
last  months  of  his  life,  Henry  continually  appealed  to 
Raleigh  for  advice.  The  Prince  was  exceedingly  in- 
terested in  all  matters  of  navigation  and  shipbuilding. 


174  Raleigh 

and  there  exists  a  letter  to  him  from  Raleigh  giving 
him  elaborate  counsel  on  the  building  of  a  man-of-war, 
from  which  we  may  learn  that  in  the  opinion  of  that 
practised  hand  six  things  were  chiefly  required  in  a 
well-conditioned  ship  of  the  period:  '1,  that  she  be 
strong  built ;  2,  swift  in  sail  ;  3,  stout-sided ;  4,  that 
her  ports  be  so  laid,  as  she  may  carry  out  her  guns  all 
weathers  ;  5,  that  she  hull  and  try  well ;  6,  that  she 
stay  well,  when  boarding  or  turning  on  a  wind  is  re- 
quired.' Secure  in  the  interest  of  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
and  hoping  to  persuade  the  Queen  to  be  an  adventurer, 
Raleigh  seized  the  opportunity  of  the  death  of  Salisbury 
to  communicate  his  plans  for  an  expedition  to  Guiana 
to  the  Lords  of  the  Council.  He  thought  he  had  in- 
duced them  to  promise  that  Captain  Keymis  should  go, 
and  that  if  so  much  as  half  a  ton  of  gold  was  brought 
back,  that  should  buy  Raleigh  his  liberty.  But  the 
negotiations  fell  through,  and  Keymis  stayed  at  home. 

In  September  1612,  Raleigh  was  writing  the  second 
of  his  Marriage  Discourses^  that  dealing  with  the  pro- 
spects of  his  best  and  youngest  friend.  A  month  later 
that  friend  fell  a  victim  to  his  extreme  rashness  in  the 
neglect  of  his  health.  The  illness  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales  filled  the  whole  of  England  with  dismay,  and 
when,  on  November  6,  he  sank  under  the  attack  of 
typhoid  fever,  it  was  felt  to  be  a  national  misfortune. 
On  the  very  morning  of  his  death  the  Queen  sent 
to  Raleigh  for  his  famous  cordial,  and  it  was  for- 
warded, with  the  message  that  if  it  was  not  poison  that 
the  Prince  was  dying  of,  it  must  save  him.  The  Queen 
herself  believed  that  Raleigh's  cordial  had  once  saved 
her  life  \  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  preceding  August 


In  the    Tower  175 

his  medicines  were  vulgarly  supposed  to  have  hastened 
the  death  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney's  daughter,  the  Countess 
of  Rutland.  The  cordial  soothed  the  Prince's  last 
agony,  and  that  was  all.  Henry  had  with  great  diffi- 
culty obtained  from  his  father  the  promise  that,  as  a 
personal  favour  to  himself,  Raleigh  should  be  set  at 
liberty  at  Christmas  1612.  He  died  six  weeks  too  soon, 
and  the  King  contrived  to  forget  his  promise.  The 
feeling  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  towards  Raleigh  was  ex- 
pressed in  a  phrase  that  was  often  repeated,  '  No  man 
but  my  father  would  keep  such  a  bird  in  a  cage.' 

We  learn  from  Izaak  Walton  that  Ben  Jonson  was 
recommended  to  Raleigh  while  he  was  in  the  Tower, 
by  Camden.  That  he  helped  him  in  obtaining  and 
arranging  material  for  the  History  of  the  World  is 
certain.  In  1613  young  Walter  Raleigh,  having  re- 
turned to  London,  and  having,  in  the  month  of  April, 
killed  his  man  in  a  duel,  went  abroad  under  the  charge 
of  Jonson.  They  took  letters  for  Prince  Maurice  of 
Nassau,  and  they  proceeded  to  Paris,  but  we  know 
no  more.  It  was  probably  before  they  started  that 
young  Walter  wheeled  the  corpulent  poet  of  the  AU 
chemist  into  his  father's  presence  in  a  barrow,  Ben 
Jonson  being  utterly  overwhelmed  with  a  flagon  of 
that  famed  canary  that  he  loved  too  well.  Jonson,  on 
his  return  from  abroad,  seems  to  have  superintended 
the  publication  of  the  History  of  the  World  in  1614.  A 
fine  copy  of  verses,  printed  opposite  the  frontispiece  of 
that  volume,  was  reprinted  among  the  pieces  called 
Underwoods  in  the  1641  folio  of  Ben  Jonson's  Works, 
These  lines  have,  therefore,  ever  since  been  attributed 
to  that  poet,  but,  as  it  appears  to  me,  rashly.     In  the 


iy6  Raleigh 

first  place,  tliis  "volume  was  posthumous ;  in  tte  second, 
for  no  less  than  twenty-three  years  Ben  Jonson  allowed 
the  verses  to  appear  as  Ealeigh's  without  protest;  in 
the  third,  where  they  differ  from  the  earlier  version  it 
is  always  to  their  poetical  disadvantage.  They  were 
found,  as  the  editor  of  1641  says,  amongst  Jonson's 
papers,  and  I  would  suggest,  as  a  new  hypothesis,  that 
the  less  polished  draft  in  the  Underwoods  is  entirely 
Ealeigh's,  having  been  copied  by  Jonson  verbatim  when 
he  was  preparing  the  History  of  the  World  for  the  press, 
and  that  the  improved  expressions  in  the  latter  were 
adopted  by  Ealeigh  on  suggestion  from  the  superior 
judgment  of  Jonson.  The  character  of  the  verse  is 
pecuHarly  that  of  Ealeigh. 

It  was  in  1607,  as  I  have  conjectured,  that  Ealeigh 
first  began  seriously  to  collect  and  arrange  materials  for 
the  History  of  the  World;  in  1614  he  presented  the  first 
and  only  volume  of  this  gigantic  enterprise  to  the  public. 
It  was  a  folio  of  1,354  pages,  printed  very  closely,  and 
if  reprinted  now  would  fill  about  thirty-five  such  volumes 
as  are  devised  for  an  ordinary  modem  novel.  Yet  it 
brought  the  history  of  the  world  no  lower  down  than 
the  conquest  of  Macedon  by  Eome,  and  it  is  hard  to 
conceive  how  soon,  at  this  rate  of  production,  Ealeigh 
would  have  reached  his  own  generation.  He  is  said  to 
have  anticipated  that  his  book  would  need  to  consist  of 
not  less  than  four  such  folios.  In  the  opening  lines  he 
expresses  some  consciousness  of  the  fact  that  it  was  late 
in  life  for  him,  a  prisoner  of  State  condemned  to  death 
at  the  King's  pleasure,  to  undertake  so  vast  a  literary 
adventure.  '  Had  it  been  begotten,'  he  confesses,  *  with 
my  first  dawn  of  day,  when  the  light  of  common  know- 


In  the   Tower  177 

ledge  began  to  open  itself  to  my  younger  years,  and 
before  any  wound  received  either  from  fortune  or  time, 
I  might  yet  well  have  doubted  that  the  darkness  of  age 
and  death  would  have  covered  over  both  it  and  me,  long 
before  the  performance.'  It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that 
Raleigh  could  have  been  as  well  advised  as  his  contem- 
porary and  possible  friend,  the  Huguenot  poet-soldier, 
Agrippa  d'Aubigne,  who  at  the  close  of  a  chequered 
career  also  prepared  a  Histoire  JJniverselle^  in  which  he 
simply  told  the  story  of  his  own  political  party  in  France 
through  those  stormy  years  in  which  he  himself  had 
been  an  actor.  We  would  gladly  exchange  all  these 
chronicles  of  Semiramis  and  Jehoshaphat  for  a  plain 
statement  of  what  Raleigh  witnessed  in  the  England  of 
Elizabeth. 

The  student  of  Raleigh  does  not,  therefore,  rise  from 
an  examination  of  his  author's  chief  contribution  to  litera- 
ture without  a  severe  sense  of  disappointment.  The 
book  is  brilliant  almost  without  a  rival  in  its  best  pas- 
sages, but  these  are  comparatively  few,  and  they  are 
divided  from  one  another  by  tracts  of  pathless  desert. 
The  narrative  sometimes  descends  into  a  mere  slough 
of  barbarous  names,  a  marish  of  fabulous  genealogy, 
in  which  the  lightest  attention  must  take  wings  to  be 
supported  at  all.  For  instance,  the  geographical  and 
historical  account  of  the  Ten  Tribes  occupies  a  space 
equivalent  to  a  modern  octavo  volume  of  at  least  four 
hundred  pages,  through  which,  if  the  conscientioua 
reader  would  pass  '  treading  the  crude  consistence '  of 
the  matter,  '  behoves  him  now  both  sail  and  oar.'  It  is 
not  fair  to  dwell  upon  the  eminent  beauties  of  the 
History  of  the  World  without  at  the  same  time  acknow- 


1/8  Raleigh 

ledging  that  the  book  almost  wilfully  deprives  itself  of 
legitimate  value  and  true  human  interest  by  the  remote- 
ness of  the  period  which  it  describes,  and  by  the  tire- 
some pedantry  of  its  method.  It  is  leisurely  to  the  last 
excess.  The  first  chapter,  of  seven  long  sections,  takes 
us  but  to  the  close  of  the  Creation.  We  cannot  proceed 
without  knowing  what  it  is  that  Tostatus  affirms  of  the 
empyrean  heavens,  and  whether,  with  Strabo,  we  may 
dare  assume  that  they  are  filled  with  angels.  To  hasten 
onwards  would  be  impossible,  so  long  as  one  of  the  errors 
of  Steuchius  Eugubinus  remains  unconfuted  ;  and  even 
then  it  is  well  to  pause  until  we  know  the  opinions  of 
Orpheus  and  Zoroaster  on  the  matter  in  hand.  One 
whole  chapter  of  four  sections  is  dedicated  to  the  Tree 
of  Knowledge  of  Good  and  Evil,  and  the  arguments  of 
Goropius  Becanus  are  minutely  tested  and  found  wanting. 
Goropius  Becanus,  whom  Raleigh  is  never  tired  of 
shaking  between  his  critical  teeth,  was  a  learned  Jesuit 
of  Antwerp,  who  proved  that  Adam  and  Eve  spoke 
Dutch  in  Paradise.  It  is  not  until  he  reaches  the 
Patriarchs  that  it  begins  to  occur  to  the  historian  that 
at  his  present  rate  of  progress  it  will  need  forty  folio 
volumes,  and  not  four,  to  complete  his  labours.  From 
this  point  he  hastens  a  little,  as  the  compilers  of  ency- 
clopaedias do  when  they  have  passed  the  letter  B. 

With  all  this,  the  History  of  the  World  is  a  charming 
and  delightful  miscellany,  if  we  do  not  accept  it  too 
seriously.  Often  for  a  score  of  pages  there  will  be 
something  brilliant,  something  memorable  on  every  leaf, 
and  there  is  not  a  chapter,  however  arid,  without  its 
fine  things  somewhere.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  where 
Raleigh's  pen  will  take  fire.     He  is  most  exquisite  and 


In  the   Tower  179 

fanciful  where  his  subject  is  most  unhopeful,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  is  likely  to  disappoint  us  where  we  take 
for  granted  that  he  will  be  fine.  For  example,  the  series 
of  sections  on  the  Terrestrial  Paradise  are  singularly- 
crabbed  and  dusty  in  their  display  of  Rabbinical 
pedantry,  and  the  little  touch  in  praise  of  Guiana  is 
almost  the  only  one  that  redeems  the  general  dryness. 
It  is  not  mirth,  or  beauty,  or  luxury  that  fires  the 
historian,  but  death.  Of  mortality  he  has  always  some 
rich  sententious  thing  to  say,  praising  '  the  workman- 
ship of  death,  that  finishes  the  sorrowful  business  of  a 
wretched  life.'  So  the  most  celebrated  passages  of  the 
whole  book,  and  perhaps  the  finest,  are  the  address  to 
God  which  opens  the  Historif,  and  the  prose  hymn  in 
praise  of  death  which  closes  it.  The  entire  absence  of 
humour  is  characteristic,  and  adds  to  the  difficulty  of 
reading  the  book  straight  on.  The  story  of  Periander's 
burning  the  clothes  of  the  women  closes  with  a  jest ; 
there  is,  perhaps,  no  other  occasion  on  which  the  solemn 
historian  is  detected  with  a  smile  upon  his  lips. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  and  readable  part  of  the 
History  of  the  World  is  its  preface.  This  is  a  book  in 
itself,  and  one  in  which  the  author  condescends  to  a 
lively  human  interest.  We  cheerfully  pass  from  Elihu 
the  Buzite,  and  the  conjectures  of  Adricomius  respecting 
the  family  of  Ram,  to  the  actualities  of  English  and 
Continental  history  in  the  generation  immediately  pre- 
ceding that  in  which  Raleigh  was  writing.  When  we 
consider  the  position  in  which  the  author  stood  towards 
James  I.  and  turn  to  the  pages  of  his  Preface,  we  refuse 
to  believe  that  it  was  without  design  that  he  expressed 
himself  in  language  so  extraordinary.     It  would  have 


i8o  Raleigh 

been  mere  levity  for  a  friendless  prisoner,  ready  for  the 
block,  to  publish  this  terrible  arraignment  of  the  crimes 
of  tyrant  kings,  unless  he  had  some  reason  for  believing 
that  he  could  shelter  himself  successfully  under  a  power- 
ful sympathy.  This  sympathy,  in  the  case  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  could  be  none  other  than  that  of  Prince  Henry; 
and  it  may  well  have  been  in  the  summer  of  1612,  when, 
as  we  know,  he  was  particularly  intimate  with  the  Prince 
and  busied  in  his  affairs,  that  he  wrote  the  Preface. 
AVith  long  isolation  from  the  world,  he  had  lost  touch 
of  public  affairs,  as  Tlie  'Prerogative  of  Parliament  would 
alone  be  sufficient  to  show.  It  is  probable  that  he  ex- 
aggerated the  influence  of  the  young  Prince,  and  esti- 
mated too  highly  the  promise  of  liberty  which  he  had 
wrung  from  his  father. 

It  took  James  some  time  to  discover  that  this  grave 
Rabbinical  miscellany,  inspired  by  Siracides  and  Goro- 
pius  Becanus,  was  not  wholesome  reading  for  his 
subjects.  On  January  5,  1615,  after  the  book  had  been 
selling  slowly,  the  King  gave  an  order  commanding  the 
suppression  of  the  remainder  of  the  edition,  giving  as 
his  reason  that  '  it  is  too  saucy  in  censuring  the  acts  of 
kings.'  It  is  said  that  some  favoured  person  at  Court 
pushed  inquiry  further,  and  extracted  from  James  the 
explanation  that  the  censure  of  Henry  YIII.  was  the 
real  cause  of  the  suppression.  Contemporary  anec- 
dote, however,  has  reported  that  the  defamation  of  the 
Tudors  in  the  Preface  to  the  History  of  the  World  might 
have  passed  without  reproof,  if  the  King  had  not  dis- 
covered in  the  very  body  of  the  book  several  passages  so 
ambiguously  worded  that  he  could  not  but  suspect  the 
writer  of  intentional  satire.    According  to  this  story,  ho 


In  the   Tower  i8i 

was  startled  at  Raleigh's  account  of  Naboth's  Vineyard, 
and  scandalised  at  the  description  of  the  impeachment 
of  the  Admiral  of  France  ;  but  what  finally  drew  him  up, 
and  made  him  decide  that  the  book  must  perish,  was 
the  character  of  King  Ninias,  son  of  Queen  Semiramis. 
This  passage,  then,  may  serve  us  as  an  example  of  the 
History  of  the  World : 

Ninus  being  the  first  whom  the  madness  of  boundless 
dominion  transported,  invaded  his  neighbour  princes,  and 
became  victorious  over  them  ;  a  man  violent,  insolent,  and 
cruel.  Semiramis  taking  the  opportunity,  and  being  more 
proud,  adventurous,  and  ambitious  than  her  paramour, 
enlarged  the  Babylonian  empire,  and  beautified  many  places 
therein  with  buildings  unexampled.  But  her  son  having 
changed  nature  and  condition  with  his  mother,  proved  no 
less  feminine  than  she  was  masculine.  And  as  wounds  and 
wrongs,  by  their  continual  smart,  put  the  patient  in  mind 
how  to  cure  the  one  and  revenge  the  other,  so  those  kings 
adjoining  (whose  subjection  and  calamities  incident  were 
but  new,  and  therefore  the  more  grievous)  could  not  sleep, 
when  the  advantage  was  offered  by  such  a  successor.  For 
in  regno  Bahylonico  hie  parum  resplenduit  :  *  This  king 
shined  little,'  saith  ISTauclerus  of  Ninias, '  in  the  Babylonian 
kingdom.'  And  Hkely  it  is,  that  the  necks  of  mortal  men 
having  been  never  before  galled  with  the  yoke  of  foreign 
dominion,  nor  having  ever  had  experience  of  that  most 
miserable  and  detested  condition  of  living  in  slavery ;  no 
long  descent  having  as  yet  invested  the  Assyrian  with  a 
right,  nor  any  other  title  being  for  him  pretended  than  a 
strong  hand  ;  the  foolish  and  effeminate  son  of  a  tyrannous 
and  hated  mother  could  very  ill  hold  so  many  great  princes 
and  nations  his  vassals,  with  a  power  less  mastering,  and  a 
mind  less  industrious,  than  his  father  and  mother  had  used 
before  him. 


1 82  Raleigh 

It  is  in  passages  like  this,  where  we  read  the  satire 
between  the  lines,  and  in  those  occasional  fragments  of 
autobiography  to  which  we  have  already  referred  in  the 
course  of  this  narrative,  that  the  secondary  charm  of  the 
History  of  the  World  resides.  It  is  to  these  that  we 
turn  when  we  have  exhausted  our  first  surprise  and  de- 
light at  the  great  bursts  of  poetic  eloquence,  the  long 
sonorous  sentences  which  break  like  waves  on  the  shore, 
when  the  spirit  of  the  historian  is  roused  by  some  occa- 
sional tempest  of  reflection.  In  either  case,  the  book  is 
essentially  one  to  glean  from,  not  to  read  with  consecu- 
tive patience.  Real  historical  philosophy  is  absolutely 
wanting.  The  author  strives  to  seem  impartial  by  in- 
troducing, in  the  midst  of  an  account  of  the  slaughter  of 
the  Amalekites,  a  chapter  on '  The  Instauration  of  Civility 
in  Europe,  and  of  Prometheus  and  Atlas  ; '  but  his  general 
notions  of  history  are  found  to  be  as  rude  as  his  compara- 
tive mythology.  He  scarcely  attempts  to  sift  evidence, 
and  next  to  Inspiration  he  knows  no  guide  more  trust- 
worthy than  PintUs  or  Haytonus,  a  Talmudic  rabbi  or 
a  Jesuit  father.  In  the  midst  of  his  disquisitions,  the 
reward  of  the  continuous  reader  is  to  come  suddenly 
upon  an  unexpected  ^  as  I  myself  have  seen  in  America,' 
or  '  as  once  befell  me  also  in  Ireland.' 

Another  historical  work,  the  Breviary  of  the  History 
of  England,  has  been  claimed  for  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 
This  book  was  first  published  in  1692,  from  a  manuscript 
in  the  possession  of  Archbishop  Sancroft,  and,  as  it 
would  appear,  in  Raleigh's  handwriting.  Before  its 
publication,  however,  the  Archbishop  had  noted  that 
*  Samuel  Daniel  hath  inserted  into  his  History  of  England 
[1618],  almost  word  for  word,  both  the  Introduction  and 


In  the  Tower  183 

tlie  Life ;  whence  it  is  that  you  have  sometimes  in  the 
margin  of  my  copy  a  various  reading  with  '"' D  "  after 
it/  Daniel,  a  gentle  and  subservient  creature,  was  the 
friend  of  Camden,  and  a  paid  servant  of  Queen  Anne, 
during  Raleigh's  imprisonment.  He  died  a  few  months 
after  Raleigh's  execution.  It  is  very  likely  that  he  was 
useful  to  Raleigh  in  collecting  notes  and  other  material. 
It  may  even  have  been  his  work  for  the  interesting 
prisoner  in  the  Tower  that  caused  Jonson's  jealous  dis- 
like of  Daniel.  The  younger  poet's  own  account,  as 
Mr.  Edwards  pointed  out,  by  no  means  precludes 
the  supposition  that  he  used  material  put  together  by 
another  hand.  At  the  same  time  Sancroft's  authority 
cannot  be  considered  final  as  regards  Raleigh's  author- 
ship of  the  Breviary  J  for  the  manuscript  did  not  come 
into  his  hands  until  nineteen  years  after  Raleigh's 
death. 

No  such  doubt  attaches  to  the  very  curious  and 
interesting  volume  published  nominally  at  Middelburg 
in  1628,  and  entitled  The  Prerogative  of  Farliament. 
This  takes  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  a  Counsellor 
of  State  and  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The  dramatic 
propriety  is  but  poorly  sustained,  and  presently  the 
Justice  becomes  Raleigh,  speaking  in  his  own  person. 
The  book  was  written  in  the  summer  of  1615,  a  few 
months  after  the  suppression  of  the  History  of  the  Woi'ld, 
and  by  a  curious  misconstruction  of  motive  was  in- 
tended to  remove  from  the  King's  mind  the  unpleasant 
impression  caused  by  those  parables  of  Ahab  and  of 
Ninias.  It  had,  however,  as  we  shall  see,  the  very 
opposite  result.  The  preface  to  the  King  expresses  an 
almost  servile  desire  to  please  :  ^  it  would  be  more  dog- 

ir 


1 84  Raleigh 

like  than  man-like  to  bite  the  stone  that  struck  me,  to 
wit  the  borrowed  authority  of  my  sovereign  misinformed.' 
But  Raleigh  was  curiously  misinformed  himself  regard- 
ing the  ways,  and  wishes  of  James.  His  dialogue  takes 
for  its  starting-point  the  trial  of  Oliver  St.  John,  who 
had  been  Raleigh's  fellow-prisoner  in  the  Tower  since 
April  for  having  with  unreasonable  brutality  protested 
against  the  enforced  payment  of  what  was  called  the 
Benevolence,  a  supposed  free-will  offering  to  the  purse 
of  the  King.  So  ignorant  was  Raleigh  of  what  was 
going  on  in  England,  that  he  fancied  James  to  be 
unaware  of  the  tricks  of  his  ministers  ;  and  the  argument 
of  Tlie  Prerogative  of  Parliament  is  to  encourage  the 
King  to  cast  aside  his  evil  counsellors,  and  come  face 
to  face  with  his  loyal  people.  The  student  of  Mr. 
Gardiner's  account  of  the  Benevolence  will  smile  to 
think  of  the  rage  with  which  the  King  must  have 
received  Raleigh's  proffered  good  advice,  and  of  Raleigh's 
stupefaction  at  learning  that  his  well-meant  volume  was 
forbidden  to  be  printed.  His  manuscript,  prepared  for 
the  press,  still  remains  among  the  State  Papers,  and  it 
was  not  until  ten  years  after  his  death  that  it  was  first 
timidly  issued  under  the  imprints  of  Middelburg  and 
of  Hamburg. 

Not  the  least  of  Raleigh's  chagrins  in  the  Tower 
must  have  been  the  composition  of  works  which  he  was 
unable  to  publish.  It  is  probable  that  several  of  these 
are  still  unknown  to  the  world ;  many  were  certainly 
destroyed,  some  may  still  be  in  existence.  During  the 
thirty  years  which  succeeded  his  execution,  there  was  a 
considerable  demand  for  scraps  of  Raleigh's  writing  on 
the  part  of  men  who  were  leaning  to  the  Liberal  side. 


In  the  Tower  185 

Jolm  Hampden  was  a  collector  of  Raleigh's  manuscripts, 
and  he  is  possibly  the  friend  who  bequeathed  to  Milton 
the  manuscript  of  The  Cahmet  Council,  an  important 
political   work  of  Raleigh's  which  the  great   Puritan 
poet  gave  to  the  world  in  1658.     At  that  time  Milton 
had  had  the  treatise  '  many   years  in  my  hands,  and 
finding  it  lately  by  chance    among   other   books  and 
papers,  upon  reading  thereof  I  thought  it  a  kind  of 
injury  to  withhold  longer  the  work  of  so  eminent  an 
author  from  the  public/     The  Cabinet  Council  is  a  study 
in  the  manner  of  Macchiavelli.     It  treats  of  the  arts 
of  empire  and  mysteries  of  State-craft,  mainly  with 
regard  to  the  duties  of  monarchy.     It  is  remarkable  for 
the  extraordinary  richness  of  allusive  extracts  from  the 
Roman  classics,  almost  every  maxim  being  immediately 
followed  by  an  apt  Latin  example.     At  the  end  of  the 
twenty-fourth  chapter   the   author   wakes   up   to   the 
tedious  character  of  this  manner  of  instruction,  and  the 
rest  of  the  book  is  illustrated  by  historical  instances  in 
the  English  tongue.     The  book  closes  with  an  exhorta- 
tion to  the  reader,  who  could  be  no  other  than  Prince 
Henry,  to  emulate  the  conduct  of  Amurath,  King  of 
Turbay,   who   abandoned  worldly  glory  to  embrace  a 
retired  life  of  contemplation.     The  Cabinet  Council  must 
be  regarded  as  a  text-book  of  State-craft,  intended  in 
usiim  Delphini. 

Probably  earlier  in  date,  and  certainly  more  elegant 
in  literary  form,  is  the  treatise  entitled  A  Discourse 
of  War.  This  may  be  recommended  to  the  modern 
reader  as  the  most  generally  pleasing  of  Raleigh's  prose 
compositions,  and  the  one  in  which,  owing  to  its  modest 
limits,   the   peculiarities   of    his    style    may   be  most 


1 86  Raleigh 

conveniently  studied.  The  last  passage  of  the  little  book 
forms  one  of  the  most  charming  pages  of  the  literature 
of  that  time,  and  closes  with  a  pathetic  and  dignified 
statement  of  Raleigh's  own  attitude  towards  war.  *  It 
would  be  an  unspeakable  advantage,  both  to  the  public 
and  private,  if  men  would  consider  that  great  truth, 
that  no  man  is  wise  or  safe  but  he  that  is  honest.  All 
I  have  designed  is  peace  to  my  country;  and  may 
England  enjoy  that  blessing  when  I  shall  have  no  more 
proportion  in  it  than  what  my  ashes  make.*  There  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  thB  sincerity  of  these  words  ;  yet  we 
must  not  forget  that  this  pacific  light  was  not  that  in 
which  Raleigh's  character  had  presented  itself  to  Robert 
Cecil  or  to  Elizabeth. 

None  of  Raleigh's  biographers  have  suggested  any 
employment  for  his  leisure  during  the  year  which 
followed  his  release  from  the  Tower.  Yet  the  expres- 
sions he  used  in  the  preface  to  his  Observations  on  Trade 
and  Commerce  show  that  it  must  have  been  prepared  dur- 
ing the  year  1616  or  1617:  ^ about  fourteen  or  fifteen 
years  past,'  that  is  to  say  in  1602,  *I  presented  you,'  he 
says  to  the  King,  '  a  book  of  extraordinary  importance.' 
He  complains  that  this  earlier  book  was  suppressed, 
and  hopes  for  better  luck;  but  the  same  misfortune, 
as  usual  with  Raleigh,  attended  the  Observations.  That 
treatise  was  an  impassioned  plea,  based  upon  a 
survey  of  the  commercial  condition  of  the  world,  in 
favour  of  free  trade.  Raleigh  looked  with  grave 
suspicion  on  the  various  duties  which  were  levied,  in 
increasing  amount,  on  foreign  goods  entering  this 
country,  and  he  entreated  James  I.  to  allow  him  to 
nominate  commissioners  to  examine  into  the  causes  of 


In  the  Tower  187 

tlie  depression  of  trade,  and  to  revise  the  tariffs  on  a 
liberal  basis.  It  must  have  seemed  to  the  King  that 
Ealeigh  wilfully  opposed  every  royal  scheme  which  he 
examined.  James  had  been  a  protectionist  all  through 
his  reign,  and  at  this  very  moment  was  busy  in  attempt- 
ing to  force  the  native  industries  to  flourish  in  spite  of 
foreign  competition.  Kaleigh's  treatise  must  have  been 
put  into  the  King's  hands  much  about  the  time  at 
which  his  violent  protectionism  was  threatening  to 
draw  England  into  war  with  Holland.  Raleigh's  advice 
seems  to  us  wise  and  pointed,  but  to  James  it  can  only 
have  appeared  wilfully  wrong-headed.  The  Observations 
upon  Trade  disappeared  as  so  many  of  Raleigh's  manu- 
scripts had  disappeared  before  it,  and  was  only  first 
published  in  the  Remains  ^  of  1651. 

Of  the  last  three  years  of  Raleigh's  imprisonment  in 
the  Tower  we  know  scarcely  anything.  On  September 
27,  1615,  a  fellow-prisoner  in  whom  Raleigh  could  not 
fail  to  take  an  interest,  Lady  Arabella  Stuart,  died  in  the 
Tower.  In  December,  Raleigh  was  deprived,  by  an  order 
in  Council,  of  Arabella's  rich  collection  of  pearls,  but 
how  they  had  come  into  his  possession  we  cannot  guess. 
Nor  can  we  date  the  stroke  of  apoplexy  from  which 
Raleigh  suffered  about  this  time.  But  relief  was  now 
briefly  coming.  Two  of  Raleigh's  worst  enemies,  North- 
ampton and  Somerset,  were  removed,  and  in  their  suc- 
cessors, Winwood  and  Villiers,  Raleigh  found  listeners 
more  favourable  to  his  projects.  It  has  been  said  that 
he  owed  his  release  to  bribery,  but  Mr.  Gardiner  thinks 
it  needless  to  suppose  this.     Winwood  was  as  cordial  a 

»  This  was  really  the  first  edition  of  the  Remains,  although  that 
title  does  not  appear  until  the  third  edition  of  1657. 


1 88  Raleigh 

hater  of  Spain  as  Raleigli  himself;  and  Villiers,  in  his 
political  animus  against  the  Somerset  faction,  would  need 
no  bribery.  Sir  William  St.  John  was  active  in  bring- 
ing Kaleigh's  claims  before  the  Court,  and  the  Queen,  as 
ever,  used  what  slender  influence  she  possessed.  Urged 
on  so  many  sides,  James  gave  way,  and  on  January  30, 
1616,  signed  a  warrant  for  Raleigh's  release  from  the 
Tower.  He  was  to  live  in  his  own  house,  but  with  a 
keeper;  he  was  not  to  presume  to  visit  the  Court,  or 
the  Queen's  apartments,  nor  go  to  any  public  assem- 
blies whatever,  and  his  whole  attention  was  to  be  given 
to  making  due  preparations  for  the  intended  voyage  to 
Guiana.  This  warrant,  although  Ealeigh  used  it  to  leave 
his  confinement,  was  only  provisional ;  and  was  con- 
firmed by  a  minute  of  the  Privy  Council  on  March  19. 
Raleigh  took  a  house  in  Broad  Street,  where  he  spent 
fourteen  months  in  discreet  retirement,  and  then  sailed 
on  his  last  voyage. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  SECOND  VOYAGE  TO   GUIANA. 

Raleigh  had  been  released  from  tlie  Tower  expressly 
on  the  understanding  that  he  should  make  direct  pre- 
parations for  a  voyage  to  Guiana.  The  object  of  this 
voyage  was  to  enrich  King  James  with  the  produce  of  a 
mine  close  to  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco.  In  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  Raleigh  had  stoutly  contended  that  the  natives 
of  Guiana  had  ceded  all  sovereignty  in  that  country  to 
England  in  1595,  and  that  English  colonists  therefore 
had  no  one's  leave  to  ask  there.  But  times  had  changed, 
and  he  now  no  longer  pretended  that  he  had  a  right  to 
the  Orinoco ;  he  was  careful  to  insist  that  his  expedi- 
tion would  infringe  no  privileges  of  Spain.  He  was 
anxious  by  every  diplomatic  subtlety  to  avoid  failure, 
and  for  the  first  few  months  he  kept  extremely  quiet. 
'  He  had  called  in  the  SfiOOl.  which  had  been  lying  at 
interest  ever  since  he  had  received  it  as  part  of  the  com- 
pensation for  the  Sherborne  estates.  Lady  Raleigh  had 
raised  2,500L  by  the  sale  of  some  lands  at  Mitcham.* 
5000Z.  more  were  brought  together  by  various  expedients, 
some  being  borrowed  in  Amsterdam  through  the  famous 

»  More  exactly,  a  house  at  the  corner  of  Wykford  Lane,  with  a 
small  estate  at  the  back  of  it,  an  appendage  to  Lady  Raleigh's 
brother's  seat  at  Beddington. 


190  Raleigh 

merchant,  Pieter  Yanlore,'  and  15,000Z.  were  contributed 
by  Kaleigli's  friends,  who  looked  upon  his  enterprise 
much  as  men  at  the  present  day  would  regard  a  pro- 
mising but  rather  hazardous  investment. 

His  first  business  was  to  build  one  large  ship  of  440 
tons  in  the  Thames.  This  he  named  the  '  Destiny,'  and 
he  received  no  check  in  fitting  her  up  to  his  desire ; 
the  King  paid  700  crowns,  as  the  usual  statutable 
bounty  on  shipbuilding,  without  objection.  At  the 
same  time  Ealeigh  built  or  collected  six  other  smaller 
vessels,  and  furnished  them  all  with  ordnance.  The 
preparation  of  such  a  fleet  in  the  Thames  could  not  pass 
unobserved  by  the  representatives  of  the  foreign  courts, 
and  during  the  last  six  months  of  1616  Raleigh's  name 
became  the  centre  of  a  tangle  of  diplomatic  intrigue, 
and  one  which  frequently  occurs  in  the  correspondence 
of  Sarmiento,  better  known  afterwards  as  Gondomar,  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  and  in  that  of  Des  Marets,  the 
French  ambassador.  Mr.  Edwards  has  remarked,  with 
complete  justice,  that  the  last  two  years  of  Raleigh's  life 
were  simply  *  a  protracted  death-struggle  between  him 
and  Gondomar.'  The  latter  had  been  in  England  since 
1613,  and  had  acquired  a  singular  art  in  dealing  with 
the  purposes  of  James  I.  At  the  English  Court  during 
1616  we  find  Spain  watching  France,  and  Venice  watch- 
ing Savoy,  all  of  them  intent  on  Raleigh's  movements 
in  the  river.  For  the  unravelment  of  these  intrigues 
in  detail,  the  reader  must  be  referred  to  Mr.  Gardiner's 
masterly  pages. 

On  August  26,  a  royal  commission  was  issued,  by 
which  Raleigh  was  made  the  commander  of  an  expedi- 
tion to  Guiana,  under  express  orders,  more  stringently 


The  Second    Voyage   to  Guiana       191 

expressed  tlian  usual,  not  to  visit  tlie  domiaions  of  any 
Christian  prince.  This  was  to  allay  the  alarm  of  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  who  from  the  first  rumour  of 
Raleigh's  voyage  had  not  ceased  to  declare  that  its 
real  object  was  piracy,  and  probably  the  capture  of  the 
Mexican  plate  fleet.  At  the  same  time  James  I.  allowed 
Gondomar  to  obtain  possession  of  copies  of  certain 
documents  which  Raleigh  had  drawn  out  at  the  royal 
command  describing  his  intended  route,  and  these  were 
at  once  forwarded  to  Madrid,  together  with  such  infor- 
mation as  Gondomar  had  been  able  to  glean  in  con- 
versation with  Raleigh.  Spain  instantly  replied  by 
ofiering  him  an  escort  to  his  gold  mine  and  back,  but 
of  course  Raleigh'  declined  the  proposition.  He  con- 
tinued to  assert  that  he  had  no  piratical  intention,  and 
that  any  man  might  peacefully  enter  Guiana  without 
asking  leave  of  Spain. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  anecdote  is  true  which 
records  that  Raleigh  at  this  time  applied  to  Bacon  to 
know  whether  the  terms  of  his  commission  were  tanta- 
mount to  a  free  pardon,  and  was  told  that  they  were. 
But  it  rests  on  much  better  testimony  that  Bacon  asked 
him  what  he  would  do  if  the  Guiana  mine  proved  a 
deception.  Raleigh  admitted  that  he  would  then  look 
out  for  the  Mexican  plate  fleet.  '  But  then  you  will 
be  pirates,'  said  Bacon ;  and  Raleigh  answered,  *  Ah, 
who  ever  heard  of  men  being  pirates  for  millions?' 
There  was  no  exaggeration  in  this ;  the  Mexican  fleet 
of  that  year  was  valued  at  two  millions  and  a  half.  The 
astute  Gondomar  was  at  least  half  certain  that  this  was 
Raleigh's  real  intention,  and  by  October  12  he  had  per- 
suaded James  to  give  him  still  more  full  security  that 


192  Raleigh 

no  injury  should  be  done,  at  the  peril  of  Raleigh's  life, 
to  any  subject  or  property  of  the  King  of  Spain. 

The  building  of  the  '  Destiny '  meanwhile  proceeded, 
and  Raleigh  received  many  important  visitors  on  board 
her.  He  was  protected  by  the  cordial  favour  of  the 
Secretary,  Sir  Ralph  Winwood ;  and  if  the  King  disliked 
him  as  much  as  ever,  no  animosity  was  shown.  In  the 
first  days  of  1617,  Raleigh  ventured  upon  a  daring  act 
of  intrigue.  He  determined  to  work  upon  the  growing 
sympathy  of  the  English  Court  with  Savoy  and  its  tension 
with  Spain,  to  strike  a  blow  against  the  rich  enemy 
of  the  one  and  ally  of  the  other,  Genoa.  He  proposed 
to  Scarnafissi,  the  Savoyard  envoy  in  London,  that 
James  I.  should  be  induced  to  allow  the  Guiana  expedi- 
tion to  steal  into  the  Mediterranean,  and  seize  Genoa 
for  Savoy.  Scarnafissi  laid  the  proposal  before  James, 
and  on  January  12  it  was  discussed  in  the  presence  of 
Winwood.  There  was  talk  of  increasing  Raleigh's  fleet 
for  this  purpose  by  the  addition  of  a  squadron  of  sixteen 
ships  from  the  royal  navy.  For  a  fortnight  the  idea 
was  discussed  in  secret ;  but  on  the  26th,  Scarnafissi  was 
told  that  the  King  had  determined  not  to  adopt  it. 
Four  days  later  Raleigh  was  released  from  the  personal 
attendance  of  a  keeper,  and  though  still  not  pardoned, 
was  pronounced  free.  On  February  10,  the  Venetian 
envoy,  who  had  been  taken  into  Scarnafissi's  counsel, 
announced  to  his  Government  that  the  King  had  finally 
determined  to  keep  Raleigh  to  his  original  intention. 

Raleigh  was  next  assailed  by  secret  propositions 
from  France.  Through  the  month  of  February  various 
Frenchmen  visited  him  on  the  '-  Destiny,'  besides  the 
ambassador,  Des  Marets.     He  was  nearly  persuaded,  in 


The  Second    Voyage  to  Guiana       193 

defiance  of  James,  to  support  the  projected  Huguenot 
rebellion  by  capturing  St.  Valery.  To  find  out  the 
truth  regarding  his  intention,  Des  Marets  paid  at  least 
one  visit  to  the  *  Destiny,'  and  on  March  7  gave  his 
Government  an  account  of  a  conversation  with  Raleigh, 
in  which  the  latter  had  spoken  bitterly  of  James,  and 
had  asserted  his  affection  for  France,  and  desire  to  serve 
her.  It  is  in  the  correspondence  of  Des  Marets  that 
the  names  of  Raleigh  and  Richelieu  become  for  a  moment 
connected;  it  was  in  February  1617  that  the  future 
Cardinal  described  his  English  contemporary  as  '  Ouastre 
Raly,  grand  marinier  et  mauvais  capitaine.'  In  March 
the  English  Government,  to  allay  fresh  apprehensions 
on  the  part  of  Spain,  forwarded  by  Gondomar  most 
implicit  assertions  that  Raleigh's  expedition  should  be 
in  no  way  injurious  to  Spain.  And  so  it  finally  started 
after  all,  not  bound  for  Mexico,  or  Genoa,  or  St.  Valery, 
but  for  the  Orinoco.  Up  to  the  last,  Gondomar  pro- 
tested, and  his  protestations  were  only  put  aside  after  a 
special  council  of  March  28.  Next  day  Raleigh  rode 
down  to  Dover  to  go  on  board  the  '  Destiny,'  which  had 
left  the  Thames  on  the  26th. 

His  fleet  of  seven  vessels  was  not  well  manned. 
His  own  account  of  the  crews  is  thus  worded  in  the 
Apology :  *  A  company  of  volunteers  who  for  the  most 
part  had  neither  seen  the  sea  nor  the  wars  ;  who,  some 
forty  gentlemen  excepted,  were  the  very  scum  of  the 
world,  drunkards,  blasphemers,  and  such  others  as  their 
fathers,  brothers,  and  friends  thought  it  an  exceeding 
good  gain  to  be  discharged  of,  with  the  hazard  of  some 
thirty,  forty,  or  fifty  pound.'  He  was  himself  Admiral, 
with  his  son  Walter  as  captain  of  the  ^  Destiny ; '  Sir 


194  Raleigh 

William  Sentleger  was  on  the  'Thunder;'  a  certain 
John  Bailey  commanded  the  '  Husband/  The  remain- 
ing vessels  were  the  '  Jason/  the  '  Encounter/  the 
'  Flying  Joan/  and  the  '  Page/  The  master  of  the 
'Destiny'  was  John  Burwick,  'a  hypocritical  thief.' 
"Various  tiresome  delays  occurred.  They  waited  for  the 
'  Thunder '  at  the  Isle  of  Wight ;  and  when  the  res£ 
went  on  to  Plymouth,  the  '  Jason '  stayed  behind  igno- 
miniously  in  Portsmouth  because  her  captain  had  no 
ready  money  to  pay  a  distraining  baker.  The  '  Husband ' 
was  in  the  same  plight  for  twelve  days  more.  The 
squadron  was,  however,  increased  by  seven  additional 
vessels,  one  of  them  commanded  by  Keymis,  through 
the  enforced  waiting  at  Plymouth,  where,  on  May  3, 
Raleigh  issued  his  famous  Orders  to  the  Fleet.  On  June 
12  the  fleet  sailed  at  last  out  of  Plymouth  Sound. 

West  of  Scilly  they  fell  in  with  a  terrific  storm, 
which  scattered  the  ships  in  various  directions.  Some 
put  back  into  Falmouth,  but  the  '  Flying  Joan '  sank 
altogether,  and  the  fly-boat  was  driven  up  the  Bristol 
Channel.  After  nearly  a  fortnight  of  anxiety  and  dis- 
tress, the  fleet  collected  again  in  Cork  Harbour,  where 
they  lay  repairing  and  waiting  for  a  favourable  wind  for 
more  than  six  weeks.  From  the  Lismore  Papers,  just 
published  (Jan.  1886),  we  learn  that  Raleigh  occupied 
this  enforced  leisure  in  getting  rid  of  his  remaining 
Irish  leases,  and  in  collecting  as  much  money  as  he 
could.  Sir  Richard  Boyle  records  that  on  July  1  Raleigh 
came  to  his  house,  and  borrowed  1001.  On  August  19 
the  last  Journal  begins,  and  on  the  20th  the  fleet 
left  Cork,  Raleigh  having  taken  a  share  in  a  mine  at 
Balligara  on  the  morning  of  the  same  day.     Nothing 


The  Second    Voyage  to  Guiana       195 

happened  until  the  Slst,  when,  being  off  Cape  St.  Vincent, 
the  English  fleet  feU  in  with  four  French  vessels  laden 
with  fish  and  train  oil  for  Seville.  In  order  that  they 
might  not  give  notice  that  Raleigh  was  in  those  waters, 
where  he  certainly  had  no  business  to  be,  he  took  these 
vessels  with  him  a  thousand  leagues  to  the  southward, 
and  then  dismissed  them  with  payment.  His  conduct 
towards  these  French  boats  was  suspicious,  and  he  after- 
wards tried  to  prove  that  they  were  pirates  who  had 
harried  the  Grand  Canary.  It  was  also  Raleigh's  con- 
tention, that  the  enmity  presently  shown  him  by  Captain 
Bailey,  of  the  '  Husband,'  arose  from  Raleigh's  refusal  to 
let  him  make  one  of  these  French  ships  his  prize. 

On  Sunday  morning,  September  7,  the  English  fleet 
anchored  oS"  the  shore  of  Lanzarote.  the  most  easterly  of 
the  Canaries,  having  hitherto  crept  down  the  coast  of 
Africa.  These  Atlantic  islands  were  particularly  open 
to  the  attacks  of  Algerine  corsairs,  and  a  fleet  of  *  Turks ' 
had  just  ravaged  the  towns  of  the  Madeiras.  The  people 
of  Lanzarote,  waking  up  one  morning  to  find  their  road- 
stead full  of  strange  vessels,  took  for  granted  that  these 
were  pirates  from  Algiers.  One  English  merchant  vessel 
was  lying  there  at  anchor,  and  by  means  of  this  inter- 
preter Raleigh  endeavoured  to  explain  his  peaceful 
intention,  but  without  success.  He  had  a  meeting  on 
shore  with  the  governor  of  the  island,  *  our  troops  stay- 
ing at  equal  distance  with  us,'  and  was  asked  the  per- 
tinent question,  *  what  I  sought  for  from  that  miserable 
and  barren  island,  peopled  in  effect  all  with  Moriscos.' 
Raleigh  asserted  that  all  he  wanted  was  fresh  meat  and 
wine  for  his  crews,  and  these  he  offered  to  pay  for. 

On  the  11th,  finding  that  no  provisions  came,  and 
18 


196  Raleigh 

that  the  inhabitants  were  carrying  their  goods  up  into 
the  hills,  the  captains  begged  Ealeigh  to  march  inland 
and  take  the  town ;  '  but/  he  says,  '  besides  that  I  knew 
it  would  offend  his  Majesty,  I  am  sure  the  poor  English 
merchant  should  have  been  ruined,  whose  goods  he  had 
in  his  hands,  and  the  way  being  mountainous  and  most 
extreme  stony,  I  knew  that  I  must  have  lost  twenty 
good  men  in  taking  a  town  not  worth  two  groats.'  The 
Governor  of  Lanzarote  continued  to  be  in  a  craven  state 
of  anxiety,  and  would  not  hear  of  trading.  We  cannot 
blame  him,  especially  when  we  find  that  less  than  eight 
months  later  his  island  was  invaded  by  genuine  Alge- 
rine  bandits,  his  town  utterly  sacked,  and  900  Christians 
taken  off  into  Moslem  slavery.  After  three  Englishmen 
had  been  killed  by  the  islanders,  yet  without  taking  any 
reprisals,  Raleigh  sailed  away  from  these  sandy  and  in- 
hospitable shores.  But  in  the  night  before  he  left,  one 
of  his  ships,  the  '  Husband,'  had  disappeared.  Captain 
Bailey,  who  is  believed  to  have  been  in  the  pay  of  Gon- 
domar,  had  hurried  back  to  England  to  give  report  of 
Raleigh's  piratical  attack  on  an  island  belonging  to  the 
dominion  of  Spain.  As  the  great  Englishman  went  sail- 
ing westward  through  the  lustrous  waters  of  the  Canary 
archipelago,  his  doom  was  sealed,  and  he  would  have 
felt  his  execution  to  be  a  certainty,  had  he  but  known 
what  was  happening  in  England. 

He  called  at  Grand  Canary,  to  complain  of  the 
Lanzarote  people  to  the  governor-general  of  the  islands, 
but,  for  some  reason  which  he  does  not  state,  did  not 
land  at  the  town  of  Palmas,  but  at  a  desert  part,  far  from 
any  village,  probably  west  of  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  island.    The  governor-general  gave  him  no  answer ; 


The   Second    Voyage   to  Guiana       197 

but  the  men  found  a  little  water,  and  they  sailed  away, 
leaving  Teneriffe  to  the  north.  On  September  18  they 
put  into  the  excellent  port  of  the  island  of  Gomera, 
^  the  best/  he  says,  '  in  all  the  Canaries,  the  town  and 
castle  standing  on  the  very  breach  of  the  sea,  but  the 
billows  do  so  tumble  and  overfall  that  it  is  impossible  to 
land  upon  any  part  of  the  strand  but  by  swimming, 
saving  in  a  cove  under  steep  rocks,  where  they  can  pass 
towards  the  town  but  one  after  the  other.'  Here,  as  at 
Lanzarote,  they  were  taken  for  Algerines,  and  the  guns 
on  the  rocks  began  to  fire  at  them.  Raleigh,  however, 
immediately  sent  a  messenger  on  shore  to  explain  that 
they  were  not  come  to  sack  their  town  and  burn  their 
churches,  as  the  Dutch  had  done  in  1599,  but  that  they 
were  in  great  need  of  water.  They  presently  came  to 
an  agreement  that  the  islanders  should  quit  their 
trenches  round  the  landing-place,  and  that  Raleigh 
should  promise  on  the  faith  of  a  Christian  not  to  land 
more  than  thirty  unarmed  sailors,  to  fill  their  casks  at 
springs  within  pistol-shot  of  the  wash  of  the  sea,  none 
of  these  sailors  being  permitted  to  enter  any  house  or 
garden.  Raleigh,  therefore,  sent  six  of  his  seamen, 
and  turned  his  ships  broadside  to  the  town,  ready  to 
batter  it  with  culverin  if  he  saw  one  sign  of  treachery. 

It  turned  out  that  when  the  Governor  of  Gomera 
knew  who  his  visitors  were,  he  was  as  pleased  as  possible 
to  see  them.  His  wife's  mother  had  been  a  Stafford, 
and  when  Raleigh  knew  that,  he  sent  his  countrywoman 
a  present  of  six  embroidered  handkerchiefs  and  six  pairs 
of  gloves,  with  a  very  handsome  message.  To  this  the 
lady  rejoined  that  she  regretted  that  her  ban-en  island 
contained  nothing  worth  Raleigh's  acceptance,  yet  sent 


1 98  Raleigh 

him  *  four  very  great  loaves  of  sugar/  with  baskets  of 
lemonSj  oranges,  pomegranates,  figs,  and  most  delicate 
grapes.  During  the  three  days  that  they  rode  off 
Gomera,  the  Governor  and  his  English  lady  wrote  daily 
to  Sir  Walter.  In  return  for  the  fruit,  deeming  him- 
self much  in  her  debt,  he  sent  on  shore  a  very  courteous 
letter,  and  with  it  two  ounces  of  ambergriece,  an  ounce 
of  the  essence  of  amber,  a  great  glass  of  fine  rose-water, 
an  excellent  picture  of  Mary  Magdalen,  and  a  cut-work 
ruff.  Here  he  expected  courtesies  to  stay,  but  the  lady 
must  positively  have  the  last  word,  and  as  the  English 
ships  were  starting  her  servants  came  on  board  with 
yet  a  letter,  accompanying  a  basket  of  delicate  white 
manchett  bread,  more  clusters  of  fruits,  and  twenty- 
four  fat  hens.  Meanwhile,  in  the  friendliest  way,  the 
sailors  had  been  going  to  and  fro,  and  had  drawn  240 
pipes  of  water.  So  cordial,  indeed,  was  their  reception, 
that,  as  a  last  favour,  Raleigh  asked  the  Governor  for  a 
letter  to  Sarmiento  [Gondomar],  which  he  got,  setting 
forth  *  how  nobly  we  had  behaved  ourselves,  and  how 
justly  we  had  dealt  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands.' 
Before  leaving  Gomera,  Raleigh  discharged  a  native 
barque  which  one  of  his  pinnaces  had  captured,  and 
paid  at  the  valuation  of  the  master  for  any  prejudice 
that  had  been  done  him.  On  September  21  they  sailed 
away  from  the  Canaries,  having  much  sickness  on  board; 
and  that  very  day  their  first  important  loss  occurred,  in 
the  death  of  the  Provost  Marshal  of  the  fleet,  a  man 
called  Stead. 

On  the  26th  they  reached  St.  Antonio,  the  outer- 
most of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  but  did  not  land  there. 
For  eight  wretched  days  they  wandered  aimlessly  about 


The  Second    Voyage  to  Guiana       199 

in  tliis  unfriendly  archipelago,  trying  to  make  up 
their  minds  to  land  now  on  Brava,  now  on  St.  Jago. 
Some  of  the  ships  grated  on  the  rocks,  all  lost  anchors 
and  cables ;  one  pinnace,  her  crew  being  asleep  and  no 
one  on  the  watch,  drove  under  the  bowsprit  of  the 
^  Destiny,'  struck  her  and  sank.  When  they  did  effect 
a  landing  on  Brava,  they  were  soaked  by  the  tropical 
autumnal  rains  of  early  October.  Men  were  dying 
fast  in  all  the  ships.  In  deep  dejection  Ealeigh  gave 
the  order  to  steer  away  for  Guiana.  Meanwhile  Bailey 
had  arrived  in  England,  had  seen  Gondomar,  and  had 
openly  given  out  that  he  left  Raleigh  because  the 
admiral  had  been  guilty  of  piratical  acts  against  Spain. 
It  does  not  seem  that  Winwood  or  the  King  took  any 
notice  of  these  declarations  until  the  end  of  the  year. 

The  ocean  voyage  was  marked  by  an  extraordinary 
number  of  deaths,  among  others  that  of  Mr.  Fowler, 
the  principal  refiner,  whose  presence  at  the  gold  mine 
would  have  been  of  the  greatest  importance.  On 
October  13,  John  Talbot,  who  had  been  for  eleven  years 
Raleigh's  secretary  in  the  Tower,  passed  away.  The 
log  preserved  in  the  Second  Voyage  is  of  great  interest, 
but  we  dare  not  allow  its  observations  to  detain  us.  On 
the  last  of  October,  Raleigh  was  struck  down  by  fever 
himself,  and  for  twenty  days  lay  unable  to  eat  anything 
more  solid  than  a  stewed  prune.  He  was  in  bed,  on 
November  11,  when  they  sighted  Cape  Orange,  now 
the  most  northerly  point  belonging  to  the  Empire  of 
Brazil.  On  the  14th  they  anchored  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Cayenne  river,  and  Raleigh  was  carried  from  his 
noisome  cabin  into  his  barge ;  the  '  Destiny '  got  across 
the  bar,  which  was  lower  then  than  it  now  is,  on  the 


200  Raleigh 

17tli.  At  Cayenne,  after  a  day  or  two,  Raleigli's  old 
servant  Harry  turned  up ;  he  liad  almost  forgotten  his 
English  in  twenty-two  years.  Ealeigh  began  to  pick 
up  strength  a  little  on  pine-apples  and  plantains,  and 
presently  he  began  to  venture  even  upon  roast  peccary. 
He  proceeded  to  spend  the  next  fortnight  on  the  Cayenne 
river,  refreshing  his  weary  crews,  and  repairing  his 
vessels.  An  interesting  letter  to  his  wife  that  he  sent 
home  from  this  place,  which  he  called  '  Caliana,'  con- 
firms the  Second  Voyage^  and  adds  some  details.  He 
says  to  Lady  Raleigh  :  '  To  tell  you  I  might  be  here  King 
of  the  Indians  were  a  vanity ;  but  my  name  hath  still 
lived  among  them.  Here  they  feed  me  with  fresh  meat 
and  all  that  the  country  yields ;  all  offer  to  obey  me. 
Commend  me  to  poor  Carew  my  son.'  His  eldest  son, 
Walter,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  with  him. 

In  December  the  fleet  coasted  along  South  America 
westward,  till  on  the  15th  they  stood  under  Trinidad. 
Meanwhile  Raleigh  had  sent  forward,  by  way  of  Suri- 
nam and  Essequibo,  the  expedition  which  was  to  search 
for  the  gold  mine  on  the  Orinoco.  His  own  health  pre- 
vented his  attempting  this  journey,  but  he  sent  Captain 
Keymis  as  commander  in  his  stead,  and  with  him  was 
George  Raleigh,  the  Admiral's  nephew ;  young  Walter 
also  accompanied  the  party.  On  New  Year's  Eve 
Raleigh  landed  at  a  village  in  Trinidad,  close  to  Port  of 
Spain,  and  there  he  waited,  on  the  borders  of  the  land 
of  pitch,  all  through  January  1618.  On  the  last  of  that 
month  he  returned  to  Punto  Gallo  on  the  mainland, 
being  very  anxious  for  news  from  the  Orinoco.  The 
log  of  the  Second  Voyage  closes  on  February  13,  and  it 
is  supposed  that  it  was  on  the  evening  of  that  day  that 


The  Second    Voyage   to  Guiana       201 

Captain  Keymis'  disastrous  letter,  written  on  January 
8,  reached  Raleigli  and  iu formed  him  of  the  death  of 
his  son  "Walter.  ^  To  a  broken  mind,  a  sick  body,  and 
weak  eyes,  it  is  a  torment  to  write  letters,'  and  we 
know  he  felt,  as  he  also  said,  that  now  '•  all  the  respects 
of  this  world  had  taken  end  in  him/  Keymis  had 
acted  in  keeping  with  what  he  must  have  supposed  to 
be  Raleigh's  private  wish;  he  had  attacked  the  new 
Spanish  settlement  of  San  Thome.  In  the  fight  young 
Walter  Raleigh  had  been  struck  down  as  he  was  shout- 
ing *  Come  on,  my  men  !  This  is  the  only  mine  you 
will  ever  find.'  Keymis  had  to  announce  this  fact  to 
the  father,  and  a  few  days  afterwards,  with  only  a 
remnant  of  his  troop,  he  himself  fled  in  panic  to  the  sea, 
believing  that  a  Spanish  army  was  upon  him.  The 
whole  adventure  was  a  miserable  and  ignominious 
failure. 

The  meeting  between  Raleigh  and  Keymis  could 
not  fail  to  be  an  embarrassing  one.  Raleigh  could  not 
but  feel  that  all  his  own  mistakes  and  faults  might 
have  been  condoned  if  Keymis  had  brought  one  basket 
of  ore  from  the  fabulous  mine,  and  he  could  not  refrain 
from  reproaching  him.  He  told  him  he  ^  should  be  forced 
to  leave  him  to  his  arguments,  with  the  which  if  he 
could  satisfy  his  Majesty  and  the  State,  I  should  be 
glad  of  it,  though  for  my  part  he  must  excuse  me  to 
justify  it.'  After  this  first  interview  Keymis  left  him 
in  great  dejection,  and  a  day  or  two  later  appeared  in 
the  Admiral's  cabin  with  a  letter  which  he  had  written 
to  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  excusing  himself.  He  begged 
Raleigh  to  forgive  him  and  to  read  this  letter.  What 
followed,  Sir  Walter  must  tell  in  his  own  grave  words : 


202  Raleigh 

I  told  him  he  had  undone  me  by  his  obstinacy,  and 
that  I  would  not  favour  or  colour  in  any  sort  his  former 
folly.  He  then  asked  me,  whether  that  were  my  resolution  % 
I  answered,  that  it  was.  He  then  replied  in  these  words, 
*  I  know  then,  sir,  what  course  to  take,'  and  went  out  of  my 
cabin  into  his  own,  in  which  he  was  no  sooner  entered  than 
I  heard  a  pistol  go  off.  I  sent  up,  not  suspecting  any  such 
thing  as  the  killing  of  himself,  to  know  who  shot  a  pistol. 
Keymis  himself  made  answer,  lying  on  his  bed,  that  he  had 
shot  it  off,  because  it  had  long  been  charged  ;  with  wliich 
I  was  satisfied.  Some  half -hour  after  this,  his  boy,  going 
into  the  cabin,  found  him  dead,  having  a  long  knife  thrust 
under  his  left  pap  into  his  heart,  and  his  pistol  lying  by 
him,  with  which  it  appeared  he  had  shot  himself ;  but  the 
bullet  lighting  upon  a  rib,  had  but  broken  the  rib,  and  went 
no  further. 

Such  was  the  wretched  manner  in  which  Raleigh 
and  his  old  faithful  servant  parted.  In  his  despair,  the 
Admiral's  first  notion  was  to  plunge  himself  into  the 
mazes  of  the  Orinoco,  and  to  find  the  gold  mine,  or  die 
in  the  search  for  it.  But  his  men  were  mutinous ;  they 
openly  declared  that  in  their  belief  no  such  mine  existed, 
and  that  the  Spaniards  were  bearing  down  on  them  by 
land  and  sea.  They  would  not  go ;  and  Raleigh,  strange- 
ly weakened  and  humbled,  asked  them  if  they  wished 
him  to  lead  them  against  the  Mexican  plate  fleet.  He 
told  them  that  he  had  a  commission  from  France,  and 
that  they  would  be  pardoned  in  England  if  they  came 
home  laden  with  treasure. 

What  exactly  happened  no  one  knows.  The  mutiny 
grew  worse  and  worse,  and  on  March  21,  when  Raleigh 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  prepare  the  mind  of  Winwood,  he 
was  lying  off  St.  Christopher's  on  his  homeward  voyage; 


The  Second    Voyage   to  Guiana       203 

not  knowing  of  course  that  his  best  English  friend  had 
ah^eady  been  dead  five  months.     Next  day,  he  made  up 
his  mind  that  he  dared  not  return  to  England  to  face  his 
enemies,  and  he  wrote  to  tell  his  wife  that  he  was  off  to 
Newfoundland,  '  where  I  mean  to  make  clean  my  ships, 
and  revictual ;  for  I  have  tobacco  enough  to  pay  for  it/ 
But  he  was  powerless,  as  he  confesses,  to  govern  his 
crew,  and  no  one  knows  how  the  heartbroken  old  man 
spent  the  next  two  dreadful  months.     His  ships  slunk 
back  piecemeal  to   English  havens,  and   on  May   23, 
Captain  North,  who  had  commanded  the  '  Chudleigh,' 
had   audience   of  the  King,  and  told  him  the  whole 
miserable  story.   On  May  26,^  Raleigh  made  his  appear- 
ance, with  the  '  Destiny,'  in  the  harbour  of  Kinsale, 
and  on  June  21  he  arrived  in  Plymouth,  penniless  and 
dejected,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  utterly  unnerved 
and  irresolute.     On  June  16  he  had  written  an  apolo- 
getic letter  to  the  King.     By  some  curious  slip  Mr. 
Edwards  dated  this  letter  three  months  too  late,  and 
its  significance  has  therefore  been  overlooked.     It  is 
important  as  showing  that  Raleigh  was  eager  to  conci- 
liate James. 

»  I  gather  this  date,  hitherto  entirely  nnknown,  from  the  fact 
that  in  the  recently  published  Lismore  Papers  Sir  Richard  Boyle 
notes  on  May  27  that  he  receives  letters  from  Haleigh  announcing 
his  arrival  at  Kinsale. 


204  Raleigh 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   END. 

GoXDOMAR  had  not  been  idle  during  Raleigli's  absence, 
but  so  long  as  Winwood  was  alive  he  had  not  been  able 
to  attack  the  absent  Admiral  with  much  success.  As 
soon  as  Bailey  brought  him  the  news  of  the  supposed 
attack  on  Lanzarote,  he  communicated  with  his  Govern- 
ment, and  urged  that  an  embargo  should  be  laid  on  the 
goods  of  the  English  merchant  colony  at  Seville.  This 
angry  despatch,  the  result  of  a  vain  attempt  to  reach 
James,  is  dated  October  22 ;  and  on  October  27  the 
sudden  death  of  Winwood  removed  Gondomar's  principal 
obstacle  to  the  ruin  of  Raleigh.  At  first,  however,  Bailey's 
story  received  no  credence,  and  if,  as  Howel  somewhat 
apocryphally  relates,  Gondomar  had  been  forbidden  to  say 
two  words  about  Raleigh  in  the  King's  presence,  and 
therefore  entered  with  uplifted  hands  shouting  'Pirates!' 
till  James  was  weary,  he  did  not  seem  to  gain  much 
ground.  Moreover,  while  Bailey's  story  was  being  dis- 
cussed, the  little  English  merchant  vessel  which  had  been 
lying  in  Lanzarote  during  Raleigh's  visit  returned  to 
London,  and  gave  evidence  which  brought  Bailey  to 
gaol  in  the  Gate  House. 

On  January  11,  1618,  before  any  news  had  been 
received  from  Guiana,  a  large  gathering  was  held  in 


The  End  205 

the  Council  Chamber  at  Westminster,  to  try  Bailey 
for  false  accusation.  The  Council  contained  many  men 
favourable  to  Raleigh,  but  the  Spanish  ambassador 
brought  influence  to  bear  on  the  King ;  and  late  in 
February,  Bailey  was  released  with  a  reprimand,  although 
he  had  accused  Raleigh  not  of  piracy  only,  but  of  high 
treason.  The  news  of  the  ill-starred  attack  on  San 
Thome  reached  Madrid  on  May  3,  and  London  on  the 
8th.  This  must  have  given  exquisite  pleasure  to  the 
baffled  Gondomar,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  pressing 
James  for  revenge.  He  gave  the  King  the  alternative 
of  punishing  Raleigh  in  England  or  sending  him  as  a 
prisoner  to  Spain.  The  King  wavered  for  a  month. 
Meanwhile  vessel  after  vessel  brought  more  conclusive 
news  of  the  piratical  expedition  in  which  Keymis  had 
failed,  and  Gondomar  became  daily  more  importunate. 
It  began  to  be  thought  that  Raleigh  had  taken  flight 
for  Paris. 

At  last,  on  June  11,  James  I.  issued  a  proclama- 
tion inviting  all  who  had  a  claim  against  Raleigh  to 
present  it  to  the  Council.  Lord  Nottingham  at  the 
same  time  outlawed  the  '  Destiny '  in  whatever  English 
port  she  might  appear.  It  does  not  seem  that  the 
King  was  unduly  hasty  in  condemning  Raleigh.  He 
had  given  Spain  every  solemn  pledge  that  Raleigh 
should  not  injure  Spain,  and  yet  the  Admiral's  only  act 
had  been  to  fall  on  an  unsuspecting  Spanish  settlement ; 
notwithstanding  this,  James  argued  as  long  as  he  could 
that  San  Thome  lay  outside  the  agreement.  The  arrival 
of  the  ^  Destiny,'  however,  seems  to  have  clinched  Gon- 
domar's  arguments.  Three  days  after  Raleigh  arrived 
in   Plymouth,   the   King   assured  Spain  that  'not  all 


2o6  Raleigh 

those  who  have  given  security  for  Raleigh  can  save  him 
from  the  gallows/  For  the  particulars  of  the  curious 
intrigues  of  these  summer  months  the  reader  must  be  re- 
ferred, once  more,  to  Mr.  Gardiner's  dispassionate  pages. 

On  June  21,  Raleigh  moored  the  ^Destiny'  in 
Plymouth  harbour,  and  sent  her  sails  ashore.  Lady 
Raleigh  hastened  down  to  meet  him,  and  they  stayed 
in  Plymouth  a  fortnight.  His  wife  and  he,  with  Samuel 
King,  one  of  his  captains,  then  set  out  for  London,  but 
were  met  just  outside  Ashburton  by  Sir  Lewis  Stukely, 
a  cousin  of  Raleigh's,  now  Vice- Admiral  of  Devonshire. 
This  man  announced  that  he  had  the  King's  orders  to 
arrest  Sir  Walter  Raleigh ;  but  these  were  only  verbal 
orders,  and  he  took  his  prisoner  back  to  Plymouth  to 
await  the  Council  warrant.  Raleigh  was  lodged  for 
nine  or  ten  days  in  the  house  of  Sir  Christopher  Harris, 
Stukely  being  mainly  occupied  in  securing  the 'Destiny* 
and  her  contents.  Raleigh  pretended  to  be  ill,  or  was 
really  indisposed  with  anxiety  and  weariness.  While 
Stukely  was  thinking  of  other  things,  Raleigh  com- 
missioned Captain  King  to  hire  a  barque  to  slip  over  to 
La  Rochelle,  and  one  night  Raleigh  and  King  made 
their  escape  towards  this  vessel  in  a  little  boat.  But 
Raleigh  probably  reflected  that  without  money  or  in- 
fluence he  would  be  no  safer  in  France  than  in  England, 
and  before  the  boat  reached  the  vessel,  he  turned  back 
and  went  home.  He  ordered  the  barque  to  be  in  readi- 
ness the  next  night,  but  although  no  one  watched  him, 
he  made  no  second  efibrt  to  escape. 

On  July  23  the  Privy  Council  ordered  Stukely, 
*  all  delays  set  apart,'  to  bring  the  body  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  speedily  to  London.      Two  days  later,  Stukely 


The  End  207 

and  his  prisoner  started  from  Plymouth.  A  French 
quack,  called  Mannourie,  in  whose  chemical  pretensions 
Ealeigh  had  shown  some  interest,  was  encouraged  by 
Stukely  to  attend  him,  and  to  worm  himself  into  his 
confidence.  As  Walter  and  Elizabeth  Raleigh  passed 
the  beautiful  Sherborne  which  had  once  been  theirs,  the 
former  could  not  refrain  from  saying,  '  All  this  was  mine, 
and  it  was  taken  from  me  unjustly.'  They  travelled 
quickly,  sleeping  at  Sherborne  on  the  26th,  and  next 
night  at  Salisbury.  Raleigh  lost  all  confidence  as  he 
found  himself  so  hastily  being  taken  up  to  London.  As 
they  went  from  Wilton  into  Salisbury,  Raleigh  asked 
Mannourie  to  give  him  a  vomit ;  ^  by  its  means  I  shall 
gain  time  to  work  my  friends,  and  order  my  affairs; 
perhaps  even  to  pacify  his  Majesty.  Otherwise,  as  soon 
as  ever  I  come  to  London,  they  will  have  me  to  the 
Tower,  and  cut  ofi"  my  head.' 

That  same  evening,  while  being  conducted  to  his 
rooms,  Raleigh  struck  his  head  against  a  post.  It  was 
supposed  to  show  that  he  was  dizzy ;  and  next  morn- 
ing he  sent  Lady  Raleigh  and  her  retinue  on  to  London, 
saying  that  he  himself  was  not  well  enough  to  move. 
At  the  same  time  King  went  on  to  prepare  a  ship  to  be 
ready  in  the  Thames  in  case  of  another  emergency. 
When  they  had  started,  Raleigh  was  discovered  in  his 
bedroom,  on  all  fours,  in  his  shirt,  gnawing  the  rushes 
on  the  floor.  Stukely  was  completely  taken  in;  the 
French  quack  had  given  Raleigh,  not  an  emetic  only, 
but  some  ointment  which  caused  his  skin  to  break 
out  in  dark  purple  pustules.  Stukely  rushed  off  to 
the  Bishop  of  Ely,  who  happened  to  be  in  Salisbury, 
and  acted  on  his  advice  to  wait  for  Raleigh's  recovery. 
19 


2o8  Raleigh 

Unless  Stukely  also  was  mountebanking,  the  spy  Man- 
nourie  for  the  present  kept  Ealeigh's  counsel.  Raleigh 
was  treated  as  an  invalid,  and  during  the  four  days'  re- 
tirement contrived  to  wiite  his  Apologij  for  the  Voyage 
to  Guiana.  On  August  1,  James  I.  and  all  his  Court 
entered  Salisbury,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  same  day 
Stukely  hurried  his  prisoner  away  lest  he  should  meet 
the  King.  Some  pity,  however,  was  shown  to  Raleigh's 
supposed  dying  state,  and  permission  was  granted  him 
to  go  straight  to  his  own  London  house.  His  hopes  re- 
vived, and  he  very  rashly  bribed  both  Mannourie  and 
Stukely  to  let  him  escape.  So  confident  was  he,  that 
he  refused  the  offers  of  a  French  envoy,  who  met  him  at 
Brentford  with  proposals  of  a  secret  passage  over  to 
France,  and  a  welcome  in  Paris.  He  was  broken  alto- 
gether ;  he  had  no  dignity,  no  judgment  left. 

Raleigh  arrived  at  his  house  in  Broad  Street  on 
August  7.  On  the  9th  the  French  repeated  their  invi- 
tation. Again  it  was  refused,  for  King  had  seen  Raleigh 
and  had  told  him  that  a  vessel  was  lying  at  Tilbury  ready 
to  carry  him  over  to  France.  Her  captain.  Hart,  was  an 
old  boatswain  of  King's;  before  Raleigh  received  the 
information,  this  man  had  already  reported  the  whole 
scheme  to  the  Government.  The  poor  adventurer  was 
surrounded  by  spies,  from  Stukely  downwards,  and  the 
toils  were  gathering  round  him  on  every  side.  On  the 
evening  of  the  same  August  9,  Raleigh,  accompanied  by 
Captain  King,  Stukely,  Hart,  and  a  page,  embarked  from 
the  river-side  in  two  wherries,  and  was  rowed  down  to- 
wards Tilbury.  Raleigh  presently  noticed  that  a  larger 
boat  was  following  them  ;  at  Greenwich,  Stukely  threw 
off  the  mask  of  friendship  and  arrested  King,  who  was 


The  End  209 

thrown  then  and  there  into  the  Tower.  What  became  of 
Kaleigh  that  night  does  not  appear ;  he  was  put  into  the 
Tower  next  day.  When  he  was  arrested  his  pockets  were 
found  full  of  jewels  and  golden  ornaments,  the  diamond 
ring  Queen  Elizabeth  had  given  him,  a  loadstone  in  a 
scarlet  purse,  an  ounce  of  ambergriece,  and  fifty  pounds 
in  gold ;  these  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  traitor  '  Sir 
Judas'  Stukely. 

Outside  the  Tower  the  process  of  Raleigh's  legal  con- 
demnation now  pursued  its  course.  A  commission  was 
appointed  to  consider  the  charges  brought  against 
the  prisoner,  and  evidence  was  collected  on  all  sides. 
Raleigh  was  obliged  to  sit  with  folded  hands.  He  could 
only  hope  that  the  eloquence  and  patriotism  of  his  Ajpo- 
logy  might  possibly  appeal  to  the  sympathy  of  James. 
As  so  often  before,  he  merely  showed  that  he  was  igno- 
rant of  the  King's  character,  for  James  read  the  Apology 
without  any  other  feeling  than  one  of  triumph  that  it 
amounted  to  a  confession  of  guilt.  The  only  friend 
that  Raleigh  could  now  appeal  to  was  Anne  of  Denmark, 
and  to  her  be  forwarded,  about  August  15,  a  long  peti- 
tion in  verse : 

Cold  walls,  to  you  I  speak,  but  you  are  senseless ! 
Celestial  Powers,  you  hear,  but  have  determined. 
And  shall  determine,  to  my  greatest  happiness. 

Then  unto  whom  shall  I  unfold  my  wrong, 
Cast  down  my  tears,  or  hold  up  folded  hands  ?— 
To  Her  to  whom  remorse  doth  most  belons:  ; 

To  Her,  who  is  the  first,  and  may  alone 
Be  justly  called,  the  Empress  of  the  Britons. 
Who  should  have  mercy  if  a  Queen  have  none  1 


210  Raleigh 

Queen  Anne  responded  as  slie  had  always  done  to 
Ealeigh's  appeals.  If  his  life  had  lain  in  her  hands, 
it  would  have  been  a  long  and  a  happy  one.  She 
immediately  wrote  to  Buckingham,  knowing  that  his 
influence  was  far  gi-eater  than  her  own  with  the  King, 
and  her  letter  exists  for  the  wonder  of  posterity.  She 
writes  to  her  husband's  favourite  :  ^  My  kind  Dog/  for 
so  the  poor  lady  stoops  to  address  him,  *  if  I  have  any 
power  or  credit  with  you,  I  pray  you  let  me  have  a 
trial  of  it,  at  this  time,  in  dealing  sincerely  and  earnestly 
with  the  King  that  Sir  "Walter  Raleigh's  life  may  not 
be  called  in  question.'  Buckingham,  however,  was 
already  pledged  to  aid  the  Spanish  alliance,  and  the 
Queen's  letter  was  unavailing. 

On  August  17  and  on  two  subsequent  occasions 
Raleigh  was  examined  before  the  Commissioners,  the 
charge  being  formally  drawn  up  by  Yelverton,  the 
Attorney-General.  He  was  accused  of  having  abused 
the  King's  confidence  by  setting  out  to  find  gold  in  a 
mine  which  never  existed,  with  instituting  a  piratical 
attack  on  a  peaceful  Spanish  settlement,  with  attempt- 
ing to  capture  the  Mexican  plate  fleet,  although  he  had 
been  specially  warned  that  he  would  take  his  life  in 
his  hands  if  he  committed  any  one  of  these  three  faults. 
It  is  hard  to  understand  how  Mr.  Edwards  persuaded 
himself  to  brand  each  of  these  charges  as  '  a  distinct 
falsehood.'  The  sympathy  we  must  feel  for  Raleigh's 
misfortunes,  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which  we  read 
the  Apology,  should  not,  surely,  blind  us  to  the  fact  that 
in  neither  of  these  three  matters  was  his  action  true  or 
honest.  "We  have  no  particular  account  of  his  exami- 
nations, but  it  is  almost  certain  that  they  wrung  from 


The  End  211 

him  admissions  of  a  most  damaging  character.  He 
had  tried  to  make  James  a  catspaw  in  revenging  him- 
self on  Spain,  and  he  had  to  take  the  consequences. 

It  was  of  great  importance  to  the  Government  to 
understand  why  France  had  meddled  in  the  matter. 
The  Council,  therefore,  summoned  La  Chesnee,  the 
envoy  who  had  made  propositions  to  Raleigh  at  Brent- 
ford and  at  Broad  Street;  but  he  denied  the  whole 
story,  and  said  he  never  suggested  flight  to  Raleigh. 
So  little  information  had  been  gained  by  the  middle 
of  September,  that  it  was  determined  to  employ  a 
professional  spy.  The  person  selected  for  this  engaging 
office  was  Sir  Thomas  Wilson,  one  of  the  band  of 
English  pensioners  in  the  pay  of  Spain.  The  most 
favourable  thing  that  has  ever  been  said  of  Stukely  is 
that  he  was  not  quite  such  a  scoundrel  as  Wilson.  On 
September  9  this  person,  who  had  known  Raleigh  from 
Elizabeth's  days,  and  was  now  Keeper  of  the  State 
Papers,  was  supplied  with  '  convenient  lodging  within  or 
near  unto  the  chambers  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.'  At  the 
same  time  Sir  Allen  Apsley,  the  Lieutenant,  who  had 
guarded  the  prisoner  hitherto,  was  relieved. 

Wilson's  first  act  was  not  one  of  conciliation.  He 
demanded  that  Raleigh  should  be  turned  out  of  his  com- 
fortable quarters  in  the  Wardrobe  Tower  to  make  ro.pm 
for  Wilson,  who  desired  that  the  prisoner  should  have 
the  smaller  rooms  above.  To  this,  and  other  demands, 
Apsley  would  not  accede.  Wilson  then  began  to  do 
his  best  to  insinuate  himself  into  Raleigh's  confidence, 
and  after  about  a  fortnight  seems  to  have  succeeded. 
We  have  a  very  full  report  of  his  conversations  with 
Raleigh,  but  they  add  little  to  our  knowledge,  even  if 


2 1 2  Raleigh 

Wilson's  evidence  could  be  taken  as  gospel.  Raleigh 
admitted  La  Chesnee's  offer  of  a  French  passage,  and 
his  own  proposal  to  seize  the  Mexican  fleet ;  but  both 
these  points  were  already  known  to  the  Council. 

Towards  the  end  of  September  two  events  occurred 
which  brought  matters  more  to  a  crisis.  On  the  24th 
Ealeigh  wrote  a  confession  to  the  King,  in  which  he 
said  that  the  French  Government  had  given  him  a  com- 
mission, that  La  Chesnee  had  three  times  offered  him 
escape,  and  that  he  himself  was  in  possession  of 
important  State  secrets,  of  which  he  would  make  a  clean 
breast  if  the  King  would  pardon  him.  This  important 
document  was  found  at  Simancas,  and  first  published 
in  1868  by  Mr.  St.  John.  On  the  same  day  Philip  III. 
sent  a  despatch  to  James  I.  desiring  him  in  peremptory 
terms  to  save  him  the  trouble  of  hanging  Raleigh  at 
Madrid  by  executing  him  promptly  in  London.  As 
soon  as  this  ultimatum  arrived,  James  applied  to  the 
Commissioners  to  know  how  it  would  be  best  to  deal 
with  the  prisoner  judicially.  Several  lawyers  assured 
him  that  Raleigh  was  under  sentence  of  death,  and  that 
therefore  no  trial  was  necessary ;  but  James  shrank 
from  the  scandal  of  apparent  murder.  The  Commis- 
sioners were  so  fully  satisfied  of  Raleigh's  guilt  that 
they  advised  the  King  to  give  him  a  public  trial,  under 
Somewhat  unusual  forms.  He  was  to  be  tried  before 
the  Council  and  the  judges,  a  few  persons  of  rank  being 
admitted  as  spectators  ;  the  conduct  of  the  trial  to  be 
the  same  as  though  it  were  proceeding  in  Westminster 
Hall.  On  receipt  of  the  despatch  from  Madrid,  that  is 
to  say  on  October  3,  Lady  Raleigh,  whose  presence  was 
no  longer  required,  was  released  from  the  Tower. 


The  End  213 

The  trial  before  the  Commissioners  began  on  October 
22.  Mr.  Gardiner  has  printed  in  the  Camden  Miscellany 
such  notes  of  cross-examination  as  were  preserved  by 
Sir  Julius  Caesar,  but  they  are  very  slight.  Raleigh 
seems  to  have  denied  any  intention  to  stir  up  war 
between  England  and  Spain,  and  declared  that  he  had 
confidently  believed  in  the  existence  of  the  mine.  But 
he  made  no  attempt  to  deny  that  in  case  the  mine  failed 
he  had  proposed  the  taking  of  the  Mexican  fleet.  At 
the  close  of  the  examination.  Bacon, ^  in  the  name  of  the 
Commissioners,  told  Baleigh  that  he  was  guilty  of 
abusing  the  confidence  of  King  James  and  of  injuring 
the  subjects  of  Spain,  and  that  he  must  prepare  to  die, 
being  ^  already  civilly  dead.'  Raleigh  was  then  taken 
back  to  the  Tower,  where  he  was  left  in  suspense  for 
ten  days.  Meanwhile  the  Justices  of  the  King's  Bench 
were  desired  to  award  execution  upon  the  old  Win- 
chester sentence  of  1603.  It  is  thought  that  James 
hoped  to  keep  Raleigh  from  appearing  again  in  public, 
but  the  judges  said  that  he  must  be  brought  face  to 
face  with  them.  On  October  28,  therefore,  Raleigh  was 
roused  from  his  bed,  where  he  was  sufiering  from  a  severe 
attack  of  the  ague,  and  was  brought  out  of  the  Tower, 
which  he  never  entered  again.  He  was  taken  so  hastily 
that  he  had  no  time  for  his  toilet,  and  his  barber  called 
out  that  his  master  had  not  combed  his  head.  *  Let 
them  kem  that  are  to  have  it,'  was  Raleigh's  answer ; 
and  he  continued,  *  Dost  thou  know,  Peter,  any  plaister 
that  will  set  a  man's  head  on  again,  when  it  is  ofif  ? ' 

*  Among  the  Bute  MSS.  is  a  letter  from  Raleigh  to  Bacon 
beseeching  him  *to  spend  some  few  words  to  the  putting  of  false 
fdjne  to  flight ; '  but  Bacon's  enmity  was  unalterable. 


214  Raleigh 

When  he  came  before  Yelverton,  he  attempted  to 
argue  that  the  Guiana  commission  had  wiped  out  all 
the  past,  including  the  sentence  of  1603.  He  began  to 
discuss  anew  his  late  voyage;  but  the  Chief  Justice,  in- 
terrupting him,  told  him  that  he  was  to  be  executed  for 
the  old  treason,  not  for  this  new  one.  Raleigh  then  threw 
himself  on  the  King's  mercy,  being  every  way  trapped 
and  fettered ;  without  referring  to  this  appeal,  the  Chief 
Justice  proceeded  to  award  execution,  Raleigh  was  to 
be  beheaded  early  next  morning  in  Old  Palace  Yard. 
He  entreated  for  a  few  days'  respite,  that  he  might  finish 
some  writings,  but  the  King  had  purposely  left  town 
that  no  petitions  for  delay  might  reach  him.  Bacon 
produced  the  warrant,  which  he  had  drawn  up,  and 
which  bore  the  King's  signature  and  the  Great  Seal. 

Raleigh  was  taken  from  Westminster  Hall  to  the 
Gate  House.  He  was  in  high  spirits,  and  meeting  his  old 
friend  Sir  Hugh  Beeston,  he  urged  him  to  secure  a 
good  place  at  the  show  next  morning.  He  himself,  he 
said,  was  sure  of  one.  He  was  so  gay  and  chatty,  that 
his  cousin  Francis  Thynne  begged  him  to  be  more  grave 
lest  his  enemies  should  report  his  levity.  Raleigh 
answered,  *  It  is  my  ]ast  miith  in  this  world;  do  not 
grudge  it  to  me.'  Dr.  Tounson,  Dean  of  Westminster, 
to  whom  Raleigh  was  a  stranger,  then  attended  him ; 
and  was  somewhat  scandalised  at  this  flow  of  mercurial 
spirits.  '  When  I  began,'  says  the  Dean,  *  to  encourage 
him  against  the  fear  of  death,  he  seemed  to  make  so 
light  of  it  that  I  wondered  at  him.  When  I  told  him 
that  the  dear  servants  of  God,  in  better  causes  than  his, 
had  shrunk  back  and  trembled  a  little,  he  denied  it  not. 
But  yet  he  gave  God  thanks  that  he  had  never  feared 


The  End  215 

death.'  The  good  Dean  was  pazzled ;  but  his  final  re- 
flection was  all  to  Raleigh's  honour.  After  the  execu- 
tion he  reported  that  *  he  was  the  most  fearless  of  death 
that  ever  was  known,  and  the  most  resolute  and  con- 
fident ;  yet  with  reverence  and  conscience.' 

It  was  late  on  Thursday  evening,  the  28th,  that 
Lady  Raleigh  learned  the  position  of  affairs.  She  had 
not  dreamed  that  the  case  was  so  hopeless.  She 
hastened  to  the  Gate  House,  and  until  midnight  husband 
and  wife  were  closeted  together  in  conversation,  she  being 
consoled  and  strengthened  by  his  calm.  Her  last  word 
was  that  she  had  obtained  permission  to  dispose  of  his 
body.  '  It  is  well,  Bess,'  he  said,  ^  that  thou  mayst 
dispose  of  that  dead,  which  thou  hadst  nob  always  the 
disposing  of  when  alive.'  And  so,  with  a  smile,  they 
parted.  When  his  wife  had  left  him,  Raleigh  sat  down 
to  write  his  last  verses  : 

Even  such  is  time,  that  takes  in  trust 
Our  youth,  our  joys,  our  all  we  have, 

And  pays  us  but  with  earth  and  dust  ; 
Who  in  the  dark  and  silent  grave, 

When  we  have  wandered  all  our  ways, 

Shuts  up  the  story  of  our  days  ; 

But  from  this  earth,  this  grave,  this  dust, 

My  God  shall  raise  me  up,  I  trust. 

At  the  same  hour  Lady  Raleigh  was  preparing  for  the 
horrors  of  the  morrow.  She  sent  off  this  note  to  her 
brother.  Sir  Nicholas  Carew  : 

I  desire,  good  brother,  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  let 
me  bury  the  worthy  body  of  my  noble  husband,  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  in  your  church  at  Beddington,  where  I  desire  to 
be  buried.     The  Lords  have  given  me  his  dead  body,  though 


2i6  Raleigh 

they  denied  me  his  life.  This  night  he  shall  be  brought 
you  with  two  or  three  of  my  men.  Let  me  hear  presently. 
God  hold  me  in  my  wits. 

There  was  probably  some  difficulty  in  the  way,  for 
Raleigh's  body  was  not  brought  that  night  to  Beddington. 

In  the  morning  the  Dean  of  Westminster  entered 
the  Gate  House  again.  Ealeigh,  who  had  perhaps  not 
gone  to  bed  all  night,  had  just  finished  a  testamentary 
paper  of  defence.  Dr.  Tounson  found  him  still  very 
cheerful  and  merry,  and  administered  the  Communion 
to  him.  After  the  Eucharist,  Raleigh  talked  very  freely 
to  the  Dean,  defending  himself,  and  going  back  in  his 
reminiscences  to  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  He  declared 
that  the  world  would  yet  be  persuaded  of  his  innocence, 
and  he  once  more  scandalised  the  Dean  by  his  truculent 
cheerfulness.  He  ate  a  hearty  breakfast,  and  smoked 
a  pipe  of  tobacco.  It  was  now  time  to  leave  the  Gate 
House  ;  but  before  he  did  so,  a  cup  of  sack  was  brought 
to  him.  The  servant  asked  if  the  wine  was  to  his  likingf, 
and  Raleigh  replied,  ^I  will  answer  you  as  did  the 
fellow  who  drank  of  St.  Giles'  bowl  as  he  went  to 
Tyburn,  "  It  is  good  drink,  if  a  man  might  stay  by  it." ' 

This  excitement  lasted  without  reaction  until  he 
reached  the  scaffold,  whither  he  was  led  by  the  sheriffs, 
still  attended  by  Dr.  Tounson.  As  they  passed  through 
the  vast  throng  of  persons  who  had  come  to  see  the 
spectacle,  Raleigh  observed  a  very  old  man  bareheaded 
in  the  crowd,  and  snatching  off  the  rich  night-cap  of  cut 
lace  which  he  himself  was  wearing,  he  threw  it  to  him, 
saying, '  Friend,  you  need  this  more  than  I  do.'  Raleigh 
was  dressed  in  a  black  embroidered  velvet  night-gown 
over  a  hare-coloured  satin  doublet  and  a  black  embroi- 


The  End  217 

dered  waistcoat.  He  wore  a  ruff-band,  a  pair  of  black 
cut  taffetas  breeches,  and  ash-coloured  silk  stockings, 
thus  combining  his  taste  for  magnificence  with  a  decent 
regard  for  the  occasion.  The  multitude  so  pressed  upon 
him,  and  he  had  walked  with  such  an  animated  step, 
that  when  he  ascended  the  scaffold,  erect  and  smiling, 
he  was  observed  to  be  quite  out  of  breath. 

There  are  many  contemporary  reports  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh's  deportment  at  this  final  moment  of  his  life. 
In  the  place  of  these  hackneyed  narratives,  we  may 
perhaps  quote  the  less-known  words  of  another  by- 
stander, the  republican  Sir  John  Elyot,  who  was  at  that 
time  a  young  man  of  twenty-eight.  In  his  Monarchy 
of  Man,  which  remained  in  manuscript  until  1879, 
Elyot  says : 

Take  an  example  in  that  else  unmatched  fortitude  of 
our  Raleigh,  the  magnanimity  of  his  sufierings,  that  large 
chronicle  of  fortitude.  All  the  preparations  that  are 
terrible  presented  to  his  eye,  guards  and  officers  about  him, 
fetters  and  chains  upon  him,  the  scaffold  and  executioner 
before  him,  and  then  the  axe,  and  more  cruel  expectation 
of  his  enemies,  and  what  did  all  that  work  on  the  resolution 
of  that  worthy  ?  Made  it  an  impression  of  weak  fear,  or  a 
distraction  of  his  reason  ?  Nothing  so  little  did  that  great 
soul  suffer,  but  gathered  more  streng-th  and  advantage  upon 
either.  His  mind  became  the  clearer,  as  if  already  it  had 
been  freed  from  the  cloud  and  oppression  of  the  body,  and 
that  trial  gave  an  illustration  to  his  courage,  so  that  it 
changed  the  affection  of  his  enemies,  and  turned  their  joy 
into  sorrow,  and  all  men  else  it  filled  with  admiration, 
leaving  no  doubt  but  this,  whether  death  was  more  accept- 
able to  him,  or  he  more  welcome  unto  death. 

At  the  windows  of  Sir  Randolph  Carew,  which  were 


2i8  Raleigh 

opposite  to  the  scaffold,  Raleigh  obsei-ved  a  cluster  of 
gentlemen  and  noblemen,  and  in  particular  several  of 
those  who  had  been  adventurers  with  him  for  the  mine 
on  the  Orinoco.  He  perceived,  amongst  others,  the  Earls 
of  Arundel,  Oxford,  and  Northampton.  That  these  old 
friends  should  hear  distinctly  what  he  had  to  say  was 
his  main  object,  and  he  therefore  addressed  them  with 
an  apology  for  the  weakness  of  his  voice,  and  asked 
them  to  come  down  to  him.  Arundel  at  once  assented, 
and  all  the  company  at  Carew's  left  the  balcony,  and 
came  on  to  the  scaffold,  where  those  who  had  been  inti- 
mate with  Raleigh  solemnly  embraced  him.  He  then 
began  his  celebrated  speech,  of  which  he  had  left  a  brief 
draft  signed  in  the  Gate  House.  There  are  extant 
several  versions  of  this  address,  besides  the  one  he 
signed.  In  the  excitement  of  the  scene,  he  seems  to 
have  said  more,  and  to  have  put  it  more  ingeniously, 
than  in  the  solitude  of  the  previous  night.  His  old 
love  of  publicity,  of  the  open  air,  appeared  in  the  first 
sentence  : 

I  thank  God  that  He  has  sent  me  to  die  in  the  light,  and 
not  in  darkness.  I  likewise' thank  God  that  He  has  suffered 
me  to  die  before  such  an  assembly  of  honourable  witnesses, 
and  not  obscurely  in  the  Tower,  where  for  the  space  of 
thirteen  years  together  I  have  been  oppressed  with  many 
miseries.  And  I  return  Him  thanks,  that  my  fever  [the 
ague]  hath  not  taken  me  at  this  time,  as  I  prayed  to  Him 
that  it  might  not,  that  I  might  clear  myself  of  such  accusa- 
tions unjustly  laid  to  my  charge,  and  leave  behind  me  the 
testimony  of  a  true  heart  both  to  my  king  and  country. 

He  was  justly  elated.  He  knew  that  his  resources 
were  exhausted,  his  energies  abated,  and  that  pardon 


The  End  219 

would  now  merely  mean  a  relegation  to  oblivion.  He 
took  his  public  execution  with  delight,  as  if  it  were  a 
martyrdom,  and  had  the  greatness  of  soul  to  perceive 
that  nothing  could  possibly  commend  his  career  and 
character  to  posterity  so  much  as  to  leave  this  mortal 
stage  with  a  telling  saliloquy.  His  powers  were 
drawn  together  to  their  height;  his  intellect,  which 
had  lately  seemed  to  be  growing  dim,  had  never  flashed 
more  brilliantly,  and  the  biographer  can  recall  but  one 
occasion  in  Raleigh's  life,  and  that  the  morning  of  St. 
Barnaby  at  Cadiz,  when  his  bearing  was  of  quite  so 
gallant  a  magnificence.  As  he  stood  on  the  scaffold  in 
the  cold  morning  air,  he  foiled  James  and  Philip  at  one 
thrust,  and  conquered  the  esteem  of  all  posterity.  It  is 
only  now,  after  two  centuries  and  a  half,  that  history  is 
beginning  to  hint  that  there  was  not  a  little  special 
pleading  and  some  excusable  equivocation  in  this  great 
apology  which  rang  through  monarchical  England  like 
the  blast  of  a  clarion,  and  which  echoed  in  secret  places 
till  the  oppressed  rose  up  and  claimed  their  liberty. 

He  spoke  for  about  five-and-twenty  minutes.  His 
speech  was  excessively  ingenious,  as  well  as  eloquent, 
and  directed  to  move  the  sympathy  of  his  hearers  as 
much  as  possible,  without  any  deviation  from  literal 
truth.  He  said  that  it  was  true  that  he  had  tried  to 
escape  to  France,  but  that  his  motive  was  not  treason- 
able ;  he  knew  the  King  to  be  justly  incensed,  and 
thought  that  from  La  Rochelle  he  might  negotiate  his 
pardon.  What  he  said  about  the  commission  from 
France  is  so  ingeniously  worded,  as  to  leave  us  abso- 
lutely without  evidence  from  this  quarter.  After  speak- 
ing about  La  Chesnee's  visits,  he  proceeded  to  denounce 
20 


220  Raleigh 

the  base  Mannourie  and  his  miserable  master  Sir  Lewis 
Stukely,  yet  without  a  word  of  unseemly  invective.  He 
then  defended  his  actions  in  the  Guiana  voyage,  and 
turning  brusquely  to  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  appealed  to 
him  for  evidence  that  the  last  words  spoken  between 
them  as  the  ^  Destiny '  left  the  Thames  were  of  Raleigh's 
return  to  England.  This  was  to  rebut  the  accusation 
that  Raleigh  had  been  overpowered  by  his  mutinous 
crew,  and  brought  to  Kinsale  against  his  will.  Arundel 
answered,  '  And  so  you  did  ! '  The  Sheriff  presently 
showing  some  impatience,  Raleigh  asked  pardon,  and 
begged  to  say  but  a  few  words  more.  He  had  been 
vexed  to  find  that  the  Dean  of  Westminster  believed  a 
story  which  was  in  general  circulation  to  the  effect 
that  Raleigh  behaved  insolently  at  the  execution  of 
Essex,  *  puffing  out  tobacco  in  disdain  of  him  ; '  this  he 
solemnly  denied.     He  then  closed  as  follows  : 

And  now  I  entreat  that  you  will  all  join  me  in  prayer  to 
the  Great  God  of  Heaven,  whom  I  have  grievously  offended, 
being  a  man  full  of  all  vanity,  who  has  lived  a  sinful  life  in 
such  callings  as  have  been  most  inducing  to  it ;  for  I  have 
been  a  soldier,  a  sailor,  and  a  courtier,  which  are  courses 
of  wickedness  and  vice  ;  that  His  almighty  goodness  will 
forgive  me  ;  that  He  will  cast  away  my  sins  from  me  ;  and 
that  He  will  receive  me  into  everlasting  life. — So  I  take 
my  leave  of  you  all,  making  my  peace  with  God. 

Proclamation  was  then  made  that  all  visitors  should 
quit  the  scaffold.  In  parting  with  his  friends,  Raleigh 
besought  them,  and  Arundel  in  particular,  to  beg  the  King 
to  guard  his  memory  against  scurrilous  pamphleteers. 
The  noblemen  lingered  so  long,  that  it  was  Raleigh 
himself  who  gently  dismissed  them.     *I  have  a  long 


The  End  221 

journey  to  go/  he  said,  and  smiled,  ^  therefore  I  must 
take  my  leave  of  you.'  When  the  friends  had  retired  he 
addressed  himself  to  prayer,  having  first  announced  that 
he  died  in  the  faith  of  the  Church  of  England.  When 
his  prayer  was  done,  he  took  off  his  night-gown  and 
doublet,  and  called  to  the  headsman  to  show  him  the 
axe.  The  man  hesitated,  and  Raleigh  cried,  *  I  prithee, 
let  me  see  it.  Dost  thou  think  that  I  am  afraid  of  it  ? ' 
Having  passed  his  finger  along  the  edge,  he  gave  it 
back,  and  turning  to  the  Sheriff,  smiled,  and  said,  '  'Tis 
a  sharp  medicine,  but  one  that  will  cure  me  of  all  my 
diseases.'  The  executioner,  overcome  with  emotion, 
kneeled  before  him  for  pardon.  Raleigh  put  his  two 
hands  upon  his  shoulders,  and  said  he  forgave  him  with 
all  his  heart.  He  added,  '  When  I  stretch  forth  my 
hands,  despatch  me.'  He  then  rose  erect,  and  bowed 
ceremoniously  to  the  spectators  to  the  right  and  then  to 
the  left,  and  said  aloud,  ^  Give  me  heartily  your  prayers.' 
The  Sheriflf  then  asked  him  which  way  he  would  lay 
himself  on  the  block.  Raleigh  answered,  '  So  the  heart 
be  right,  it  matters  not  which  way  the  head  lies,'  but  he 
chose  to  lie  fexing  the  east.  The  headsman  hastened 
to  place  his  own  cloak  beneath  him,  so  displaying  the 
axe.  Raleigh  then  lay  down,  and  the  company  was 
hushed  while  he  remained  awhile  in  silent  prayer.  He 
was  then  seen  to  stretch  out  his  hands,  but  the  heads- 
man was  absolutely  unnerved  and  could  not  stir.  Raleigh 
repeated  the  action,  but  again  without  result.  The 
rich  Devonshire  voice  was  then  heard  again,  and  for 
the  last  time.  'What  dost  thou  fear?  vStrike,  man, 
strike ! '  His  body  neither  twitched  nor  trembled ; 
only  his  lips  were  seen  still  moving  in  prayer.     At  last 


222  Raleigh 

the  headsman  summoned  his  resolution,  and  though  he 
struck  twice,  the  first  blow  was  fatal. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  probably  well  advanced  in 
his  sixty-seventh  year,  but  giief  and  travel  had  made 
him  look  much  older.  He  was  still  vigorous,  however, 
and  the  effusion  from  his  body  was  so  extraordinary, 
that  many  of  the  spectators  shared  the  wonder  of  Lady 
Macbeth,  that  the  old  man  had  so  much  blood  in  him. 
The  head  was  shown  to  the  spectators,  on  both  sides  of 
the  scaffold,  and  was  then  dropped  into  a  red  bag.  The 
body  was  wrapt  in  the  velvet  night-gown,  and  both 
were  carried  to  Lady  Raleigh.  By  this  time,  perhaps, 
she  had  heard  from  her  brother  that  he  could  not 
receive  the  body  at  Beddington,  for  she  presently  had 
it  interred  in  the  chancel  of  St.  Margaret's,  West- 
minster. The  head  she  caused  to  be  embalmed,  and 
kept  it  with  her  all  her  life,  permitting  favoured  friends, 
like  Bishop  Goodman,  to  see  and  even  to  kiss  it.  After 
her  death,  Carew  Raleigh  preserved  it  with  a  like  piety. 
It  is  supposed  now  to  rest  in  West  Horsley  church 
in  Surrey.  Lady  Raleigh  lived  on  until  1647,  thus 
witnessing  the  ruin  of  the  dynasty  which  had  destroyed 
her  own  happiness. 

No  success  befell  the  wretches  who  had  enriched 
themselves  by  Raleigh's  ruin.  Sir  Judas  Stukely,  for 
so  he  was  now  commonly  styled,  was  shunned  by  all 
classes  of  society.  It  was  discovered  very  soon  after  the 
execution,  that  Stukely  had  for  years  past  been  a  clipper 
of  coin  of  the  realm.  He  did  not  get  his  blood-money 
until  Christmas  1618,  and  in  January  1619  he  was  caught 
with  his  guilty  fingers  at  work  on  some  of  the  very 
gold  pieces  for  which  he  had  sold  his  master.     The 


The  End  223 

meaner  rascal,  Mannourie,  fell  with  him.  The  populace 
clamoured  for  Stukely's  death  on  the  gallows,  but  the 
King  allowed  him  to  escape.  Wherever  he  met  human 
beings,  however,  they  taunted  him  with  the  memory  of 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  at  last  he  fled  to  the  desolate 
island  of  Lundy,  where  his  brain  gave  way  under  the 
weight  of  remorse  and  solitude.  He  died  there,  a 
maniac,  in  1620.  Another  of  Raleigh's  enemies,  though 
a  less  malignant  one,  scarcely  survived  him.  Lord 
Cobham,  who  had  been  released  from  the  Tower  while 
Raleigh  was  in  the  Canaries,  died  of  lingering  para- 
lysis on  January  24,  1619.  Of  other  persons  who  were 
closely  associated  with  Raleigh,  Queen  Anne  died  in 
the  same  year,  1619;  Camden  in  1623;  James  I.  in 
1625  ;  Nottingham,  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine,  in  1624  ; 
Bacon  in  1629  ;  Ben  Jonson  in  1637  5  while  the  Earl 
of  Arundel  lived  on  until  164G. 


INDEX. 


Note. — Read  Raleigh  for  R 


Adricomius,  179 

Albert,  Aremberg,  the  Envoy 
of  Archduke,  136 

Alen<;on's  contrast  to  R.  at 
Court,  18  ;  pageant  at  Ant- 
werp for,  18 

Algarve,  Bishop  of,  library  cap- 
tured by  Essex  and  nucleus 
of  Bodleian,  101 

Algerine  corsairs,  193 ;  sack 
Lanzarote,  194 

Allen,  Sir  Francis,  42 

America,  its  debt  to  Sir  H. 
Gilbert,  25 ;  Gilbert's  last 
expedition  to,  27  ;  R.  renews 
Gilbert's  charter,  28 ;  R.'s 
costly  expeditions  to,  29,  37 

Amidas,  a  captain  in  R.'s 
American  fleet,  28  ;  discovers 
Virginia,  29 

Amurath,  King  of  Turbay,  1 85 

Anderson,  one  of  R.'s  Winches- 
ter judges,  146 

•Angel  Gabriel,'  capture  of 
ship,  40 

Annale.t  by  Camden,  3 

Anne  of  Denmark.     See  Queen 

Annesley,  R.  takes  up  his  com- 
mand, 19 

Antonio  of  Portugal,  41 

Apology  for  the  Voyage  to 
Guiana  by  R.,  193,  208-10 

Apothegms,  Bacon's,  113 

Apsley,  Sir  Allen,  Lieutenant 


of  Tower,  211 ;  relieved  of 
R.'s  custody,  211 

Aremberg,  Count,  plotter  in 
Durham  House,  134  ;  ambas- 
sador of  Archduke  Albert, 
136  ;  relations  with  Cobham, 
137,  155 ;  communications 
with  R.,  148  ;  James  accepts 
his  protestations,  155 

♦  Ark  Raleigh '  fitted  for  Gil- 
bert's expedition  by  R.,  27  ; 
purchased  by  Elizabeth,  54 

*Ark  Royal,'  Lord  Howard's 
ship,  93 

Armada,  account  of,  37-39 ; 
Lynn  contributes  to  resist- 
ance of,  38  ;  R.'s  advice  for 
boarding  ships,  39;  R.  and 
Drake  receive  prisoners  from, 
39 

Armadillo  in  Guiana,  74,  80 

Artson,  R.  captures  sack  from 
one,  41 

Arundel,  Earl  of,  Keymis  writes 
to,  201  ;  at  R.'s  execution  as 
a  friend,  218 ;  R.  appeals  to 
him  in  justification,  220; 
death  of,  223 

Ashley,  Mrs.  Catherine,  R.'s 
aunt,  19 

Ashley,  Sir  Anthony,  notifies 
Cadiz  victory,  100 

Assapana  Islands,  80 

Astrophel,  Elegy  by  R.  in,  34 


226 


Raleigh 


d'Aubign^,  Hhtoire  Universelle 
by.  177 

Aubrey  at  Oxford  with  R.,  3 

Awbeg,  river  in  Munster,  sung 
by  Spenser,  44 

Azores,  piratical  expedition  to, 
33  ;  Peter  Strozzi  lost  at,  39  ; 
R.'s  liejwrt  of  the  FU/ht 
in  tJie,  ib. ;  '  Revenge  '  and 
Armada  fight  off,  51 ;  '  Mad  re 
de  Dio '  captured  off,  60 ; 
second  plate-thip  expedition 
off,  107  ;  capture  of  its  towns 
arranged, ?■&.;  R. takes  Fayal, 
108  ;  Essex  attacks  San  Mi- 
guel, 109 


r.AcON,  Anthony,  42,  56 
Bacon,  Lord  Francis,  with 
R.  at  Oxford,  3;  praise  of 
Grenville's  light,  51  ;  issues 
his  Essay  a,  85  ;  his  Ajw- 
therjms,  113;  his  cousins  the 
Cookes,  90;  asked  if  R.'s 
Guiana  commission  is  equi- 
valent to  pardon,  191 ;  if 
R.  fails  in  Guiana  asks  what 
is  his  alternative  ?  ih. ;  R. 
reveals  his  desire  for  Mexican 
plate  fleet  to,  ih. ;  tells  R.  he 
must  prepare  to  die,  213 ; 
asked  by  R.  to  protect  his 
fame,  213;  death  of,  223 
Bailey,  John,  commands  '  Hus- 
band '  in  Guiana  fleet,  194  ; 
prevented  from  seizing 
French  ship,  195 ;  deserts 
R.'s  expedition,  196  ;  returns 
and  charges  R.  with  piracy, 
196,  201 ;  in  pay  of  Gondo- 
mar,  196;  imprisoned  and 
story  discredited,  204;  re- 
leased with  reprimand,  205 
Balligara,  R.'s  share  in,  194 
Barlow,  a  captain  in  R.'s 
American  fleet,  28  ;  discovers 
Virginia,  ib. 


Barlow's  reference  to  R.,  7 

Barry  Court,  Geraldine  strong- 
hold, 13  ;  source  of  quarrel 
between  R.  and  Ormond,  14 ; 
R.  offers  to  rebuild,  16 

Barrv,  David,  Irish  malcontent, 
13 

Barry,  Lord,  defeat  at  Cleve 
by  R.,  15 

Basing  House,  Marquis  of 
Winchester's,  122 ;  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  French  envovs 
at,  123  .  ' 

Bath,  R.  visits,  63,  115,  122, 
127 

Bear  Gardens,  R.  takes  French 
envoys  to,  122 

Beauchamp,  Lord,  R.'s  deputy 
in  Cornwall,  32 

Beaumont's  story  of  R.  and 
King  James.  133 

Beaumont,  Countess  of,  167 

Becanus,  Goropius,  178 

Beddingfield  Park,  seat  of  Sir 
F.  Carew,  135  ;  King  James 
and  R.  entertained  at,  ih. 

Beddington,  Lady  R.  sells  land 
at,  189;  burial  asked  for  R. 
at,  215 

Bedford,  Earl  of,  R.  succeeds 
him  in  Stannaries,  32 

Beeston,  Sir  Hugh,  and  R.'s 
execution,  214 

Benevolence  tax,  184 

Berreo,  Antonio  de,  Spanish 
Governor  of  Trinidad,  de- 
scribes Guiana,  66 ;  bis 
cruelty,  68 ;  captured  by 
R.  at  St.  Joseph,  ib. ;  at- 
tempts to  lure  R.,  ib. ;  sub- 
mission to  R.,  68-69;  founded 
Guayana  Vieja,  73 

Berrie,  Captain  Leonard,  makes 
voyage  to  Guiana  for  R.,  102 

Beviile,  Sir  R.,  inquires  into 
Sir  R.  Grenville's  death,  51 

Eideford,  Grenville's  Virginian 
expedition  stopped  at,  37 ; 


Index 


227 


R.  sends   ships  to  Virginia 
from,  ib. 
Bindon,  Lord.     See  Howard 
Biron,  Due  de,  special  French 
Ambassador,  122-123;    dis- 
grace, 127 
Blount,   Sir  Christopher.    K.'s 
keeper  at  Dartmouth,  61 ;  to 
make   joint   attack   on    San 
Miguel,  107  ;   excites  Esf^ex 
against  R.,  109  ;  tries  to  kill 
R.,  120  ;  pardoned  by  R.  be- 
fore execution,  ib. 
Bodleian  Library,  Bishop    of 
Algarve's  books  captured  by 
Earl  of  Essex  contained  in, 
101 
*  Bona  venture,'  ship,  105 
Boyle,  Richard,  aft  erwards  Earl 
of     Cork,    buys    R.'s     Irish 
estates,  129 ;  lends  R.  lOOZ., 
194 ;  R.  announces  his  arri- 
val at  Kin  sale  to,  203 
Brett,    Sir    Alex.,    trustee    of 

Sherborne,  16i 
Breviary    of  the    Hutory    of 

Muiland  by  R.,  182-3 
Broad-cloths,   R.'s    licence   to 

export  woollen,  29,  30 
Broad  Street,  R.  resides  in,  188, 

208 
Brooke,  George,  conspires  for 
Arabella   Stuart,    102,    142; 
concerned  in  Watson's  plot, 
135  ;  relationship  to  Cobham 
and  Cecil,  ih. ;  arrest,  136 ; 
execution,  158 
Brooke,     Henrv,    brother     to 
Lady  Cecil.  See  Cobham,  102 
Brushtield,    Dr.,     R.'s    biblio- 
graphy, vi. ;  researches,  2,  16 
Bryskett,  Lodovick,in  Munster, 
10 ; '  Thestylis '  of  Spenser,  45 
Burghley,  R.  corresponds  with, 
8,9 ;  his  moderate  Irish  policy, 
22  ;     joint   author    of    The 
Opinion  of  Mr.  Barvley^  22  ; 
assails  R.'s  broad-cloth  pa- 


tent, 30;  references  to,  31, 
84  ;  sends  R.  to  Dartmouth 
to  save  prizes,  61 

BuiTOw,  Sir  John,  commands 
Indian  Carrack  venture,  54  ; 
successful  attack  of  plate- 
ships,  59-60 

Burwick,  John,  master  of  '  Des- 
tiny,' 194 

Byron's  Conspiracy  by  Chap- 
man, 123 


Carixet   Council  by  R.,  185; 

published  by  Milton,  ib. 
Cadiz  expedition,  87,  88-102 ; 

forced  on  by  Lord  Howard, 

88  ;  Queen  Elizabeth  reluc- 
tantly permits,  ib. ;  Essex, 
Howard,  and  R.  to  consider, 

89  ;  Dutch  to  co-operate,  i&. ; 
R.  to  raise  levies  for,  ib. ; 
recruiting  for,  90;  strength 
of  English  and  Dutch  fleets, 
91 ;  R.'s  Be!ati<>n  of  the  Ac- 
tion, 92 ;  details  of  destruc- 
tion of  Spanish  fleet,  92-98  ; 
the  town  sacked,  99-100; 
R.  wounded  in  the  leg,  98 ; 
fleet  of  carracks  escape  but 
burnt  by  Spaniards,  99 ; 
Queen  Elizabeth  claims  the 
prize  mone}',  101 ;  the  victory 
popular  in  England,  102 

Caesar,  Sir  Julius,  notes  of 
R.'s  second  trial,  213 

Caiama  Island,  74 

Camden  with  R.  at  Oxford.  3  ; 
his  Annales,  3  ;  recommends 
Jonson  to  R.,  175;  friend  of 
Samuel  Daniel,  183  ;  his 
death,  223 

Camden  Miacellany,  account  of 
R.'s  second  trial  in,  213 

Canary  Islands,  R.'s  Guiana  fleet 
oil,  195 ;  exposed  to  Algerine 
corsairs,      195  ;      Lanzarote 


228 


Raleigh 


sacked,  196  ;  E.  visits  Go- 
mera,  197 

Cape  Verde  Islands,  R.'s  Guiana 
fleet  off,  198;  E.  lands  at 
Brava,  199 

Capuri  river,  80 

Caracas  plundered  and  bumt,81 

Carews,  connections  of  E.,  1 

Carew,  Sir  Francis,  E.'s  uncle, 
135  ;  entertains  King  James 
and  E.,  ib, 

Carew,  Sir  George,  at  Lismore, 
44  ;  keeper  of  E.  at  Tower, 
58  ;  at  Cadiz  in  '  Mary  Eose,' 
95 :  and  Cormac  MacDermod, 
129 

Carew,  Sir  Nicholas,  and  E.'s 
burial,  215 

Carew,  Sir  Eandolph,  and 
friends  witness  E.'s  execu- 
tion, 218 

Carleton,  Dudley,  at  E.'s  trial, 
153 

Caroni,  river,  74 

Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset,  and 
Sherborne,  171,  172,  187 

Cashel,  Magraih  Archbishop 
of,  34 

Castle  Bally-in-Harsh,  its  cap- 
ture, 15 

Cayenne,  E.  off  river,  199,  200 

Cecil,  Sir  Eobert,  and  E.'s  mar- 
riage, 54,  63  ;  E.'s  letter  of 
devotion  for  Queen  sent  to, 
57  ;  fails  to  control  Devon 
sailors,  61  inquires  into 
pillage  of  'Madre  de  Dies,' 
62 ;  barters  with  E.,  64 ; 
promises  ship  for  Guiana 
expedition,  67  ;  E,  asks  how 
result  of  Guiana  voyage  is 
viewed,  82;  E.  sends  MS. 
account  and  presents  from 
Guiana,  83 ;  Discocei'y  of 
Gniana  dedicated  to,  84 ; 
supports  proposed  attack  on 
Cadiz,  88 ;  informed  by  E. 
of    victory  at    Cadiz,    100 ; 


death  of  his  wife  and  E.'s 
sympathy,  102  ;  E.'s  inti- 
macy with  his  family,  ih.; 
obtains  E.'s  return  to  Court, 
103  ;  told  of  E.'s  goodwill  to 
Essex,  106;  thwarts  E.  in 
being  sworn  of  P.  Council, 
112;  doubtful  support  of 
Guiana  voyage,  113-4;  son 
and  young  Walter  E.  play- 
mates, 114  ;  at  Sherborne, 
116;  accused  by  Essex,  118  ; 
advised  by  E.  to  show  Essex 
no  mercy,  118-9  ;  decline 
of  friendship  with  E.,  125 ; 
invited  to  Bath  by  E., 
127;  E.  complains  of  Lord 
Bindon  to,  ih. ;  craftiness 
towards  E.,  129  ;  created  a 
peer  by  King  James,  133 ; 
estranged  from  the  Brookes, 
135 ;  describes  E.'s  attempted 
suicide,  138 ;  aids  E.  with 
Sherborne  estate,  144 ;  sits  on 
E  's  trial,  146, 157  ;  influence 
sought  to  save  E.,  158 
created  Lord  Cranborne,164 
and  Earl  of  Salisbury,  166 
E.  writes  of  his  condition 
to,  ih. ;  references  to,  167, 
170,  173, 186  ;  his  death  and 
epigram  on,  173 

Cecil,  William.     See  Salisbury 

Champernowne,  Captain  Ar- 
thur, in  Azores,  108 

Champernowne,  Gavan,  his 
career,  4 

Champernowne,  Henry,  E.'s 
cousin,  4;  his  Huguenot 
contingent,  4 

Champernowne,  Sir  Philip,  1 

Champernownes,  connections 
of  E.,  1 

Chapman,  George,  his  epic 
poem  on  Guiana,  86;  his 
Byron's  Conspiracy,  123 

Chatham,  E.  raising  sailors  at, 
54 


Index 


229 


Chaunis  Temotam,  its  fabulous 
ores,  30 

Cherbourg,  R.  takes  barks  from, 
42 

Christian  IV.  of  Denmark  and 
R.,  169 

Church,  Dean,  compares  R.'s  ex- 
ploits with  passages  in  Faery 
Queen^  43 

Clarke  executed  for  Watson's 
plot,  158 

Cleve,  Lord  Barry  defeated  by 
R.  at,  15 

Clifford,SirConyers,atCadiz,95 

Cobham,  Lord,  Henry  Brooke 
succeeds  as,  102  ;  first  men- 
tion by  R.  of,  106  ;  R.'s  in- 
creased  intimacy,  113;  in- 
vited to  Sherborne  and  Bath, 
115  ;  goes  to  Ostend  with  R. 
ib. ;  called  an  enemy  of  Eng- 
land by  Essex,  118;  attends 
at  Basing  to  entertain  French, 
123;  plotting  at  Durham 
House,  134 ;  R.  only  inti- 
mate friend,  136  ;  Lord  War- 
den of  Cinque  Ports,  ih. ;  and 
Watson's  plot,  ib. ;  shown 
R.'s  explanation,  137 ;  ac- 
cuses R.,  but  retracts,  ib. ; 
communicates  with  R.  by 
Mellersh,  142;  tried  at 
Staines  for  Arabella  Stuart 
plot,  142 ;  communications 
with  R.,  144 ;  vacillation, 
145 ;  retracts  to  R,  ib. ;  R. 
asks  that  Cobham  should  die 
first,  157 ;  convicted  of 
treason,  158  ;  led  out  for  exe- 
cution,  but  reprieved,  160; 
death  by  paralysis,  22.3 
Coke,  Sir  Edward,  Attorney- 
General  at  R.'s  Winchester 
trial,  146-7 

Colin  Clout,  Spenser  refers  to 
R.  in,  43,  48  ;  Queen  Eliza- 
beth commands  its  publica- 
tion, 49 


Collect  io7ie.i    Peregrinationum, 

by  De  Bry,  114 
Collier,  J.  P.,  56 
Commentai^es,  by  Sir  F,  Vere,  97 
Commerce,  R.'s  Observatiom  on 
Trade  and,  186 

Conde,  Prince  of,  his  death,  4 

Cookes,  the,  R.  takes  to  Cadiz, 
90 

Copley  and  Watson's  plot,  135; 
his  arrest,  136 

Corabby,  R.'s  courage  at  ford 
of,  14 

Cordials  made  by  R.,  168 

Cork,  R.  reinforces  Sentleger 
at,  9  ;  Geraldine  executed  at, 
ib. ;  R.  governor  of,  15  ;  land 
granted  to  R.  in,  34  ;  cedars 
planted  by  R.  still  at,  47; 
R.'s  second  Guiana  fleet  takes 
retuge  at,  194 

Cornwall,  R.  Lieutenant  and 
Vice-Admiral  of,  32 ;  R.'s 
deputy  in,  32 ;  R.  collects 
miners  to  resist  Armada,  38 ; 
its  defences  considered,  89  ; 
R.'s  efforts  for  tin- workers 
in,  117  ;  R.  tries  to  retain 
office,  but  superseded  by 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  163 

Coro,  burned,  81 

Cotterell,  messenger  between 
R.  and  Cobham,  145,  169; 
examined  against  R.,  170 

Cotton,  Sir  Robert,  lends  books 
to  R.,  171 

Court,  early  record  of  R.'s  ad- 
mission to,  5,  6  ;  R.  not  a 
penniless  adventurer  at,  16 ; 
recognised  courtier,  17,  19 ; 
R.  inferior  to  Leicester,  Wal- 
singham,  and  Hatton  at,  50  ; 
reference  to  R.  at,  103,  115  ; 
R.  excluded  by  James  I.,  1 88 

Cranborne,  Lord.     See  Cecil 

•  Crane,'  the,  R.'s  ship,  42 

Creighton's,  Mrs.,  Period  of 
R.,  vi. 


230 


Raleigh 


Cross,  Captain,  and  plate  ship 
prize,  62 

Crosse,  Sir  Eobert,  with  R. 
meets  King  James,  132 

Cucuina,  river,  R.  ascends,  71 

Cumana,  Venezuela,  spared  by- 
ransom  and  subsequently 
burnt  by  R.'s  ships,  81 

Cynthia,  R.'s  supposed  lost 
poem,  45-46:  fragments 
printed  from  Hatfield  MS., 
46 ;  style  and  importance, 
46-47 ;  called  The  Ocean  to, 
46 ;  and  The  Ocean's  Love  to, 
ib. ;  treated  of  in  Athenaeum, 
1886,  ih. ;  publication  urged 
by  Spenser,  49 

Dangers  of  a  Spanish  Faction 
in  Scotland,  by  R.,  124 

Daniel,  Samuel,  and  R ,  182-3 

Dartmouth,  ♦  Madre  de  Dios  ' 
towed  to,  60;  R.  stops  spo- 
liation of,  61 

Da  vies,  Sir  John,  Nosce  teijjsum 
and  R.'s  Cynthia,  46 

Davis,  John,  R.'s  partner  for 
discovery  of  N.-W.  passage, 
28 ;  refers  to  whereabouts 
of  R.,  July  1595,  82 

De  Beaumont,  French  ambas- 
sador, refers  to  R.,  133,  141 

De  Bry  prints  R.'s  Discavery 
in  his  Collection's,  114 

*  Destiny,'  ship  built  by  R.  for 
Guiana  expedition,  190;  Des 
Marets  visits  the,  193  ;  com- 
manded by  young  Walter  R., 
ib. ;  John  Burwick  the  mas- 
ter, 1 94  ;  outlawed,  205  ; 
arrive?  at  Plymouth,  205,  206 

Des  Marets,  French  ambassa- 
dor, 190 ;  suspicious  of  R.'s 
Guiana  voyage,  ib. ;  visits 
R.'s  •  Destiny,'  193 ;  his  cor- 
respondence, ih. 

Desmond,  Earl  of,  murder  of 
his  brother's  guest,   8 ;     R. 


shares  escheated  lands  of, 
34 

Devonshire  Association,  Trans- 
actions of,  and  R.,  2  ;  accent 
strong  in  R.,  21 ;  R.'s  popu- 
larity in,  31 ;  Stannaries,  R  's 
report  on,i^>.;  R.Vice- Admiral 
of,  32  ;  Sir  John  Gilbert,  R.'s 
deputy  in,  ib. ;  R.  member  of 
Parlii^ment  for,  ib. ;  miners 
serve  in  Netherlands,  ib.  ; 
farmers  settle  in  south  of 
Ireland,  34 ;  miners  raised 
by  R.  to  repel  Armada,  38 ; 
R.  considers  its  defences,  89 

Devonshire,  Earl  of,  on  R.'s 
trial  at  Winchester,  146 

Dingle,  expedition  from  Ferrol 
lands  at,  8 

Discovery  of  Guiana,  published 
by  R.,  83-84  ;  literary  value, 
85;  translations  in  Latin, 
German,  and  French,  114; 
reprinted  by  Hakluyt,  ib. 

Doddridge,  Sir  John,  144 

Domestic  Correspondence  refers 
to  R.'s  ships,  42 

Donne,  John,  earliest  known 
poem,  105 

Dover,  R.  at,  90,  193 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  receives 
prisoners  from  Armada,  39  ; 
expedition  to  Portugal,  41- 
42  ;  and  spoil  of  *  Madre  de 
Dios,'  62  ;  his  fate,  6,  87 

•  Dreadnought,'  Sir  C.  Clifford's 
Cadiz  ship,  95 

Dudley,  Robert,  D.  of  Nor- 
thunjberland,  at  Cadiz,  ib. 

Duke,  Richard,  contemporary 
owner  of  R.'s  birthplace,  1 

Durham,  Bishop  of,  demands 
Durham  House,  133 

Durham  House  leased  by  R., 
31 ;  its  site  and  history,  ib. ; 
Queen  Elizabeth  there  in 
1592,  56;  references  to,  87, 
114,  120;  fire  at,  117;  Lady 


Index 


231 


R.  advises  a  proper  lease  for, 
ib. ;  Bishop  of  Durham  de- 
mands and  King  James  di- 
rects R.  to  surrender,  133-4  ; 
R.  forced  to  remove  from 
134  ;  alleged  plotting  at,  ib. 

Dutch  to  assist  in  attack  on 
Cadiz,  89,  99  ;  take  parb  in 
capture  of  Azores,  107 

Dyer's  evidence  at  R.'s  trial, 
155 


Edwards,  Edward,  life  and 
letters  of  R.,  iii. ;  collected 
evidence  of  battle  of  Cadiz, 
91;  references  to,  82, 190, 210 

Effingham,  Lady,  converse  with 
R.,  167 

Effingham.     See  Howard 

El  Dorado,  legendary  prince  of 
Guiana,  60  ;  supposed  lake 
in  heart  of  Guiana,  ih. ; 
efforts  of  Spaniards  and  Ger- 
mans to  reach,  ib. 

Elizabeth.  Queen,  Due  d'Alen- 
<jon  her  suitor,  17-18;  con- 
fers an  Irish  captaincy  on 
R.,  19 ;  R.  first  favourite  with, 
19-25  ;  gifts  to  R.,  24,  25  ; 
grants  charter  to  R.  for  dis- 
covery of  N.-W.  passage, 
28;  Virginia  named  in  ho- 
nour of,  ib. ;  leases  Durham 
House  to  R.,  31  ;  feelings  to- 
wards Leicester,  32 ;  keeps 
R.  from  politics,  35  ;  R.  sup- 
planted by  Essex,  35 ;  appro- 
priates pirated  fine  raiment, 
42  ;  R  restored  to  favour  by, 
43,  49 ;  praised  in  Cynthia, 
45;  Spenser  introduced  to, 
48  ;  commands  publication 
of  Colin  Clout,  49 ;  happy 
retort  of  R.  to,  53  ;  instals  a 
pliable  Bishop  of  Salisbury 
and  receives  fine  from  R., 
63;  supports  R.  in  Spanish 

21 


plate- ship  venture,  54,  59 ; 
buys  the  'Ark  Raleigh,'  54; 
vanity  and  resentment,  55  ; 
recalls  R.  from  Frobisher's 
fleet,  56 ;  discovers  R.'s 
Throckmorton  intrigue,  ib.  i 
confines  R.  in  Tower,  57 ; 
R.'s  letter  of  devotion  to,  ib. ; 
acknowledges  R.'s  marriage, 
63;  works  of  travel  published 
in  her  reign,  85  ;  irresolution 
to  attack  Spain  after  Ar- 
mada, 88  ;  R.  seeks  recon- 
ciliation with,  100 ;  claims 
Cadiz  prize-money,  101 ;  R.'s 
position  with,  101,  103,  111, 
115;  reconfers  captaincy  of 
the  Guard  on  R.,  103  ;  her 
custom  to  retire  early  to 
rest.  111;  festivities  on  her 
sixty-fifth  birthday,  113  ; 
sends  R.  to  Ostend,  115 ; 
confers  Governorship  of  Jer- 
sey and  Manor  of  St.  Ger- 
main on  R.,  116 ;  Essex  ac- 
cuses R.,  Cecil,  and  Cobham 
to,  118;  refuses  communica- 
tion with  Essex,  ih.  ;  said  to 
have  shown  skull  of  Essex, 
ib. ;  R.  sends  her  a  supposed 
diamond,  128;  interviews  R. 
on  Irish  policy,  ib. ;  R.  ad- 
vises as  to  MacDermod,  ib. ; 
her  death,  129  ;  reference  to, 
186 

Elizabethan  poets  engaged  in 
Ireland,  10 

El  Nuevo  Dorado,  or  Guiana,  QQ 

Elphinstone,  Sir  James,  eager 
for  R.'s  estate,  143 

Elyot,  Sir  John,  his  Monarchy 
of  Man,  217 ;  describes  R.'s 
end,  ib. 

England,  Breviary  of  the  His- 
tory of,  182 ;  Archbishop 
Bancroft  and  MS.  of,  ib. ; 
Samuel  Daniel's  share  in, 
183 ;  attributed  to  R.,  ih 


^32 


Raleigh 


Epuremi  tribe  in  Guiana,  78 

Erskine,  Sir  Thomas,  supplants 
R.  in  the  Guard,  133 ;  his 
position  with  King  James, 
133 

Easays,  Bacon  issues  his,  85 

Essex.  Earl  of,  competes  with 
R.  for  royal  favour,  35 ;  de- 
mands R.'s  sacrifice,  35,  36  ; 

-—Court  attacks  on  R.,  40 ; 
challenges  R.,  ih. ;  drives 
R.  from  Court,  42;  more 
friendly  with  R.,  50;  per- 
ceives value  of  the  Puri- 
tans, ih. ;  his  Protestantism, 
ih.  ;  to  consider  attack  on 
Cadiz,  89  ;  his  share  in  Cadiz 
expedition,  92-100;  captures 
library  of  Bishop  of  Algarve, 
101 ;  presents  it  to  Sir  T. 
Bodley,  ih. ;  and  Cadiz  prize 
money,  ih. ;  at  Chatham, 
103 ;  planning  fresh  attack 
on  Spain,  ih.  ;  charged  with 
disloyalty,  104 ;  R.'s  guest 
at  Plymouth,  106 ;  expedi- 
tion to  Azores  and  result, 
107-109  ;  Royal  influence  on 
the  wane.  111 ;  offended  past 
forgiveness  by  Queen,  112 ; 
uncompromising  speech  to 
Elizabeth,  ih. ;  surliness  of 
temper,  ih. ;  adopts  for  his 
men  tilting  colours  of  R., 
113  ;  increasing  enmity  with 
R  ,  iJ. ;  complaints  to  Queen, 
118 ;  Queen  refuses  com- 
munication with,  ih. ;  con- 
spiracy, 119-120  ;  R.  and  the 
execution  of,  120  ;  Elizabeth 
shows  his  skull  to  Due  de 
Biron,  123 

Eugubinus,  Steuchius,  178 

Euphuistic  prose,  example  in 
R.'s  letter  to  Cecil,  57 

Mvesham,  Chronicle  of,  171 

Ewaipanoma  tribe,  77 

Execution  of  R.,  217,  218-219; 


his  speech,  218  ;  his  gallant 
bearing,  29 
Exeter,  R.'s  parents  buiied  at,  3 


Faery  Queen,  R.'s  adventures 
compared  with  those  in,  43  ; 
its  progress,  45  ;  registered, 
Spenser  obtains  pension  by, 
49 ;  R.'s  sonnet  appended  to, 
ih. 

Fajardo  Isle,  74 

Falmouth,  expedition  to  Spain 
puts  back  into,  106 

*  Farm  of  Wines  '  granted  by 
Q.  Elizabeth  to  R.,  24; 
granted  by  King  James  to 
E.  of  Nottingham,  141 

Fayal,  Essex  and  R.  arrange  to 
capture,  107;  R.  to  meet 
Essex  at,  108  ;  R.  arrives  be- 
fore Essex,  its  attack  and 
capture,  ih. ;  arrival  of  Essex, 
ih. ;  dispute  relative  to  cap- 
ture, 109 

Featley,  Dr.  Daniel,  tutor  to 
young  Walter  R.,  171 

Fenton,  Geoffrey  ,in  Munster,  10 

Ferrol,  Spanish  expedition  to 
Ireland  from,  8 

Finland,  Duke  of,  offers  assist- 
ance to  R.  in  Guiana,  113 

Fish  tithes,  in  Sidmouth,  leased 
to  R.'s  family,  2 

Fisher,  Jasper,  6 

Fitzjames  rents  R.'s  Sherborne 
farms,  64 

Fitzwilliam,  Sir  William,  Irish 
Deputy,  dispute  with  R.,  48 ; 
reference  to,  49 

Fleet  Prison,  R.  committed  to, 
7 ;  R.  removed  from  Tower 
to,  165 

Flemish  ships  captured  off 
Fuerteventura,  67 

Flores  in  Azores,  R.  joins  fleet 
of  Essex  off,  107 

Flores,      Gutierrez,      Spanish 


Index 


233 


President,  opinion  of  the 
enemies'  fleet  off  Cadiz, 
92 

Fort  del  Ore,  Ireland,  built  by- 
invaders,  6;  siege,  capture 
and  massacre  at,  12 

Fowler,  K.'s  gold  reSner,  death 
of,  199 

France,  R.  aids  Huguenot 
princes,  4  ;  Hakluyt  in,  ib. ; 
R.'s  return  from,  6  ;  Henry 
IV.'s  compliment  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,  122;  invited  to 
support  Huguenots,  193  ; 
Ambassador  visits  R.,  190, 
192  ;  R.  offered  escape  by,  208 

Free  trade,  R.  an  advocate  of, 
186-7 

French  Ambassadors  :  Due  de 
Biron,  122  ;  De  Beaumont, 
133,  141  ;  Des  Marets,  180, 
192 

French  envoy,  La  Chesnee, 
offers  R.  means  of  escape, 
208,  211,  212 

French  vessels  detained  by 
R.,  195 

Frobisher,  Sir  Martin,  26  ; 
fleet  for  capturing  Indian 
carracks,  64 ;  reputed  se- 
verity, ib.\  R.  with  his  fleet, 
56  ;  off  Spanish  coast  seek- 
ing plate  ships,  59 
Fuerte  Ventura,  R.  captures  ships 

off,  67 
Fuller  records  R.  at  Oxford,  3  ; 
story  of  R.  making  his  cloak 
a  mat  for  Queen,  21 ;  anec- 
dotes, 22 


Gamage,  Barbara,  marries 
Robert  Sidney,  33;  grand- 
mother of  Waller's  iSacha- 
rissa,  %b. 

Gardiner,  S.  R.,  estimate  of  R.'s 
genius,  130;  credits  Beau- 
mont's story  of,  133;  account 


of  R.'s  trial,   157,  213 ;    ac- 
count of    the  Benevolence, 
184;  details  of  intrigues  in 
K.  James's  Court,  190,  206 
•  Garland,'  the,  R.'s  ship,  42 
Gascoigne,  protege  of  R.'s  half- 
brother,  5  ;  his  Steel   Glass, 
ih. ;  death  of,  5  ;   Lord  Grey 
patron  of,  10 
Gate  House,  R.  confined  in,  214 
Gawdy,  one  of  R.'s  Winchester 

judges,  146 
Genoa,  its    seizure    proposed, 
192 ;     discussed    before    K. 
James  and  rejected,  ih. 
Geraldine     Friary,     Youghal, 

destroyed,  34 
Geraldine,  Sir  James,  trial  and 

execution,  9 
Geraldines  rebel,  8 
Gibb,  John,  page  to  James  I., 

159 
Gifford,  Captain,  reference  to, 

79,80 
Gilbert,  Adrian,  R.'s  half- 
brother,  1 ;  partner  in  N.W. 
expeditions,  28  ;  holds  office 
at  Sherborne,  53 ;  obnoxious 
to  R.'s  bailiff  Meeres,  121; 
commended  to  Lady  R.,  140 ; 
and  R.'s  Sherborne  estates, 
143 
Gilbert,  Bartholomew,  his 
voyage  to  America,  125; 
sails  from  Virginia  with  rich 
woods,  126 ;  carries  supposed 
diamond  from  R.  to  Queen, 
127-8 
Gilbert,  Katherine.  See  Ra- 
leigh, Mrs. 
Gilbert,Sir  Humphrey,  R.'s  half- 
brother,  1 ;  R.  companion  of 
his  voyages,  6,  7  ;  gained  re- 
nown in  Ireland,  8  ;  granted 
Charter  to  make  settlements 
in  America,  26 ;  lends  ships 
to  serve  on  Irish  coast,  26 ; 
misfortunes  and  vicissitudes 


234 


Raleigh 


of  expedition,  26-27;  his 
death  at  sea,  27 

Gilbert,  Sir  John,  half-brother 
to  R.,  62  ;  preparing  to  sail 
for  Guiana,  113 

Gilbert,  Otto,  1 

Gillingham  Forest,  R  in,  64 

Glenmalure,  R.  meets  Spenser 
at  battle  of,  10 

Globe  Theatre,  Shakespeare's 
Richard  the  Second  at,  104 

Godolphin,  Sir  Francis,  warden 
of  Stannaries,  141 

Gomera  Islands,  R.  lands  at, 
197;  courtesy  of  governor  and 
his  lady  to  R,,  197-198 

Gondomar  (Sarmiento),Spanish 
ambassador,  190 ;  suspicious 
of  R.,  190,  191  ;  pledged  R.'s 
life  against  Spanish  attack, 
192 ;  protests  against  Guiana 
expedition,  193;  Captain 
Bailey  in  his  pay,  196  ;  Bailey 
traduces  R.  to,  199;  activity 
for  R.'s  ruin,  204 ;  urges  em- 
bargo on  English  at  Seville, 
204  ;  claims  punishment  of 
R.,  205 

Goodwin,  Hugh,  hostage  with 
Topiawari,  79  ;  learns  Indian 
language,  ih. ;  serves  under 
Gifford,  ih. ;  meets  R.  after 
twenty-two  years,  200 

Googe,  Barnabee,  in  Munster,  10 

Gorges,  Sir  A.,  assaulted  by 
R.,  58;  believes  R.  mad,  ih. ; 
historian  of  Azores  expedi- 
tion, 107  ;  and  Due  de  Biron, 
122 

Gorges,  Sir  F.,  and  Essex  con- 
spiracy, 119 

Gosnoll,  Captain,  American  dis- 
coveries, 1 25  ;  sails  from  Vir- 
ginia without  R.'s  leave,  126 

Gray's  Elegy  and  R.'s  Cynthia,^Q 

Grenville,  Sir  Richard,  and 
R.'s  Virginian  expeditions, 
29,    37 ;     captures    Spanish 


prize  of  50,000?.,  29;  and 
Armada,  37 ;  R.'s  account 
of  the  fight  in  the  'Revenge* 
and  his  heroic  death,  51,  96  ; 
Sir  R.  Beville  inquires  into 
his  death,  51 ;  praised  by 
Tennyson  and  Bacon,  51 ; 
R.'s  cousin,  95  ;  R.  revenges 
his  death,  96,  93 

Greville,  Fulke,  in  Munster,  10 

Grey,  Lord  de  Wilton,  in  Dub 
lin,  9  ;  dislikes  R.,  9  ;  patron 
of  Gascoigne,  10;  hatred 
of  Popery,  11 ;  treatment  of 
Irish  rebels,  13  ;  denounced 
by  R.  to  Leicester,  14 ; 
leniency  in  Ireland,  22 ;  and 
Armada,  37;  dines  with  R. 
at  Flores,  107  ;  in  Low  Coun- 
tries, 115 

Grey,  young  Lord  de  Wilton, 
and  Watson's  plot,  135,  168, 
160 

Grosart's  Lismore  Papers,  vi. 

Guard,  R.  Captain  of  the,  35, 
1 03 ;  Sir  T.  Erskine  supplants 
R.,  133 

Guayana  Vieja  founded  by 
Berreo,  73 

Guiana,  R.'s  desire  to  conquer, 
64  ;  its  description,  65,  66  ; 
capture  of  Spanish  letters 
relative  to,  66 ;  annexed  by 
Berreo,  governor  of  Trinidad, 
ih. ;  Captain  Whiddon  visits 
for  R,,  66 ;  R.  explores  part 
of,  67 ;  supposed  mineral 
wealth,  72,  75  ;  Humboldt  on 
its  gold  yield,  75  ;  leaves  two 
sailors  at  Morequito,  79; 
health  of  R.'s  expedition,  81 ; 
R.  asks  effect  of  expedition 
on  Court,  83  ;  R.'s  Discovery 
of  Guiana  published,  83-84 ; 
Chapman's  poem  on,  85-86  ; 
Captain  Keymis's  voyage, 
86 ;  R.'s  Of  the  Voyage  for 
Gvianay  87 ;  Government  in- 


Index 


235 


terest  not  excited  by  E.,  ih. ; 
Captain  L.  Berrie's  voyage, 
102;    D.    of   Finland   urges 
R.   to  colonise,  113;   Sir  J. 
Gilbert  preparing  for,   113 ; 
increased  fame  of  Discoverxjy 
114  ;  R.  asks  leave  to  revisit, 
170;  R.'s  funds  for  voyage, 
172,    189-190;    R.  released 
from  Tower  to  go  to,   189 ; 
advantages    promised  King 
James,  ib. ;  preparations  for, 
excite  Spaniards,  190;   R.'s 
Royal  commission,  190-191 ; 
composition  of  R.'s  fleet,  1 93- 
194;    its   delays,  194;   fleet 
detains  French  traders,  195  ; 
fleet  off  Canaries,  ib. ;   Cap- 
tain    Bailey    deserts,    196; 
courtesies  with  Governor  of 
Gomera,   198 ;    R.'s    log    of 
Second   Voyage,    199  ;   R.  ill 
of    fever   in,    199-200;    R. 
meets  Hugh  Goodwin  after 
twenty-two  years,  200  ;  fleet 
at    Trinidad,    200;    Keymis 
explores    for    gold,    attacks 
San     Thome,    200-1  ;     R.'s 
son  Walter  killed,  201 ;  Key- 
mis's  failure  and  embarrassed 
meeting  with  R.,  201  ;  Key- 
mis  commits  suicide  in,  202 ; 
R.'s  failure  to  find  gold  mines 
in,    202 ;    mutiny    of    fleet, 
202  ;  R.  sails  to  Newfound- 
land   from,  203;  R.'s  igno- 
minious   return    from,    %b.  ; 
Apology  for  the   Voyage  to^ 
208 
Gunpowder  Plot  and  R.,  168 


Hakluyt,  R.'s  contemporary 
at  Oxford,  3 ;  his  Voyages 
and  sojourn  in  France,  4 ;  re- 
prints R.'s  report  of  Gren- 
ville's  fight,  51 ;  J}ucovcry 
of  Ouiana,  114 


Hale,  the  sergeant  at  R.'s  Win- 
chester trial,  146-7 
Hamburg  ship,  R.  takes  sugar, 

&c.,  from  a,  41 
Hampden,   John,   collector  of 

R.'s  MSS.,  185 
Hannah,  Archdeacon,  printed 

R.'s  Cynthia,  46 
Harington,  Sir  John,  34 
Hariot,  Thomas,  R.'s  scientific 

agent  in  Virginia,  31 
Harris,  Sir  C,  R.  lodged  in  his 

house,  206 
Hart,  Captain,  betrays  R.,  208 
Harvey,  Sir  G.,  Lieutenant  of 
Tower,   141,   142  ;    suspects 
R.'s    communications,    144 ; 
indulges  R.,  succeeded  by  Sir 
W.  Waad,  167 
Hatfield  MSS.  and  R.'s  Cynthia, 

46 
Hatton,   Su-  C,  R.  reconciles 
him  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  23  ; 
references  to,  and  death,  32, 
35,  50  « 

Hawkins,  his  third  voyage,  6  ; 

character  of  his  voyages,  7 
Hayes  relates  R.'s  expense  in 

Gilbert's  expedition,  27 
Hayes  Barton,  R.'s  birthplace, 

in  Devon,  1,  3 
Hennessy,  Sir  J.  Pope,  account 

of  R.  in  Ireland,  47 
Henri  IV.  of  France,  122 
Henry  VIII.  censured  in  R.'s 

History,  180 
Henry,  Prince,  visits  R.  in 
Tower,  169  ;  seeks  advice  of 
R.,  173,  174;  death  agonies 
eased  by  R.'s  cordial,  175 ; 
efforts  and  sympathy  for  R., 
175,  180;  opinion  of  his 
father's  conduct,  175;  and 
R.'s  Cabinet  Council,  185 
nistoire   Universelle,  by  d'Au- 

bigne,  177 
Historical    MSS.    Commission 
Reports,  vi. 


2^6 


Raleigh 


History  of  the  World,  by  R.'s 
personal  reference,  4,  5,  162, 
171 ;  references  to  Armada, 
38 ;  on  boarding  galleons, 
39;  refers  to  Trinidad,  67; 
R.  aided  by  Ben  Jonson,  175  ; 
size  and  contents,  176  ;  criti- 
cally examined,  176-182 ;  its 
preface,  when  written,  180  ; 
suppressed  by  King  James, 
and  cause,  180-181 

Hooker's  Supply  of  the  Irish 
Chronicles  and  references 
to  R.,  11»  43  ;  Ecclesiastical 
Polity,  85 ;  Oxford  tutor  of 
Walter  R.,  jun.,  171 

Hornsey,  R.'s  servants  disturb 
the  peace  at,  6 

Howard  of  Bindon,  Thomas 
Lord,  R.  to  warn  him  if  any 
Spaniards  in  Channel,  50; 
and  Cadiz  expedition,  89,  96, 
97,  98 ;  takes  R.'s  servant 
under  his  protection,  121  ; 
persuades  Sir  W.  Peryam  to 
re-try  Meere'ssuit,  127;  juror 
on  R.'s  trial,  143,  146 

Howard,  Lord  Henry,  and  R., 
interview  with  Lennox,  124- 
125 ;  R.  prays  forgiveness 
for,  139 

Howard  of  Effingham,  Lord 
Charles,  R.'s  advice  on  board- 
ing Armada,  38,  39;  high 
opinion  of  R.,  39  ;  Discovery 
of  Guiana  dedicated  to,  84  ; 
forces  expedition  to  Cadiz,  88; 
on  committee  for  attack  on 
Cadiz,  89;  details  of  his  action 
at  Cadiz,  92-100  ;  ship  '  Ark 
Royal,'  93 ;  obtains  R.'s  return 
to  Court,  103;  to  attempt 
capture  of  Graciosa,  107; 
created  E.  of  Nottingham, 
110,  112 ;  granted  R.'s  wine 
patent,  141 ;  conducts  Ara- 
bella Stewart  to  R.'s  trial, 
195 ;     outlaws     R.'s     ship 


♦  Destiny,'    205  ;    death   of, 
223 

Huguenots,  R.  offers  to  aid,  4 ; 
Henry  Champernowne's  force 
aids,  ih. ;  mode  of  smoking 
out  Catholics,  5 

Hulsius,  Levinus,  Latin  trans- 
lation of  the  Discovery  of 
Guiana,  114 

Humboldt's  examination  of 
Guiana  gold,  75 ;  testified 
to  the  genuineness  of  R.'s 
account  of  Guiana,  78 

«  Husband '  ship,  194,  196 


IMATACA  mountains  seen  by 
R.,  72 

Imokelly,  R.  escapes  ambush 
by  Seneschal  of,  14 

Lacomeof  R.,  references  to,  16, 
24,  25,  30,  34,  133,  162,  172 

Lidian  carracks  (plate-ships) 
scheme  for  R.  to  seize,  53- 
54  ;  Sir  J.  Burrows  to  attack 
them,  54  ;  their  capture,  59- 
60  ;  fleet  of  in  Cadiz  harbour, 
99  ;  burnt  by  Spaniards  to 
avoid  capture,  ih. ;  two  de- 
stroyed by  R.  in  Azores,  109 

Ireland,  Histm^  of  the  Early 
Ages  in,  MacCarthy's,  129 

Ireland,  R.  in,  7  ;  Catholic  in- 
vasion of,  7;  R.'s  voyage  to 
Cork,  8;  Lord  Grey  suc- 
ceeds Pelham  in,  9  ;  execu- 
tion of  Sir  J.  Geraldine,  10  ; 
poets  on  service  in,  ih. ;  mas- 
sacre at  Fort  del  Ore,  12 ;  R.'s 
severity  towards  rebels,  13; 
rebels  pardoned  through 
Ormond,  ]  3 ;  R.'s  seizure  of 
Barry  Court,  14  ;  Castle  Bal- 
ly-in-Harsh  taken  .  by  R.'s 
strategy,  15 ;  R.'s  return 
from,  16  ;  R.  paid  for  service 
in,  18 ;  R.  assigned  a  Cap- 
taincy  in,  19 ;  The  Opinion 


Index 


237 


of  Mr.  Rawley  on,  22 ;  Lord 
Grey  deprived  of  Deputy- 
ship,  23;  K.'s  residences  in, 
34  ;  estates  in  Cork,  Water- 
ford,  and  Tipperary  settled 
by  R.,  34  ;  R.'s  experience  as 
a  colonist  in,  34 ;  R.  leaves 
to  fight  Armada,  38  ;  Essex 
forces  R.'s  return  to,  42  ;  R.'s 
efforts  i!n  developing  his 
estates  in,  47  ;  potato  and 
tobacco  introduced  by  R., 
48  ;  Sir  William  Fitzwilliam, 
Deputy  in,  ih. ;  R.  refused 
Lord  Deputyship,  112;  oc- 
cupied with  affairs  of,  115  ; 
invaded  by  Spain,  124  ;  R. 
on  situation  in,  ih. ;  MacCar- 
thy's  History  of  the  Early 
Ages  in,  129  ;  Boyle,  Earl  of 
Cork,  buys  R.'s  estates  in, 
129;  R.  sells  remainder  of 
his  leases,  194 
Irish  Chro7iicles,  Hooker's  Siip- 

ply  oftTie,  11 
Islands  voyage.     See  Azores 
Islington,  R.'s  residence  in,  6 


James  I.  first  cognisant  of 
R.,  123  ;  offers  Scotch  troops 
to  repel  Spanish  invasion, 
124  ;  sends  Lennox  on  mis- 
sion to  Elizabeth,  ib. ;  R.  and 
Cobham  reported  unfavour- 
able to,  124 ;  met  by  London 
nobility  at  death  of  Eliza- 
beth, 132;  R.  and  Sir  R. 
Crosse  meet  him  at  Burgh- 
ley,  ib. ;  unfavourably  re- 
ceived R.,  132 ;  promises  R. 
continuance  of  Stannaries, 
ib. ;  displaces  R.  from  the 
Guard,  133 ;  increases  R.'s 
salary  as  Governor  of  Jersey, 
ib.  ;  deprives  R.  of  Durham 
House  on  petition  of  Bishop 
of    Durham,    133,    134;   in- 


volved  in  promises  to  Catho- 
lics, 135 ;  waiting  Spanish 
overtures,  ib. ;  guest  of  Sir 
F.  Carew,  ib. ;  given  R.'s 
Discourse  an  Spanish  War, 
4'c.,ib.;  R.'s  projects  distaste- 
ful to,  ib. ;  commits  R.  to 
Tower,  137  ;  R.  begs  his  life 
of  and  refused  hope  by,  168  ; 
prepares  warrant  for  stay 
of  R.'s  execution,  158  ;  signs 
death-warrants  for  conspira- 
tors, 159;  intention  to  re- 
prieve, ib. ;  at  bull-baiting  on 
Tower  Hill,  165 ;  and  Chris- 
tian IV.  of  Denmark,  169; 
suppresses  R.'s  Histoi'y  of 
the  World,  180 ;  R.  hopes  to 
propitiate  him,  183  ;  forbids 
printing  of  R.'s  Prerogative 
of  Parliament,  184;  and  the 
Benevolence,  184  ;  a  Protec- 
tionist, 187 ;  releases  R.,  188  ; 
to  be  enriched  by  R.'s  second 
voyage  to  Guiana,  189 ;  sub- 
mits R.'s  proposed  route  to 
Madrid,  191  ;  ignores  state- 
ments of  Bailey,  199 ;  Cap- 
tain North  relates  R.'s  failure 
to,  203  ;  R.'s  apologetic  letter 
to,  ib. ;  Spain  clamours  for 
R.'s  death,  205 ;  invites 
claims  against  R.,  ib.;  his 
arguments  for  R.,  ib.',  R. 
doomed  by,  205,  206 ;  Apo- 
logy for  Guiana  voyage  of  no 
effect  on,  209  ;  R.'s  attempted 
catspaw  against  Spain,  211; 
R.'s  confession  to,  212 ;  ad- 
vised to  give  R.  public  trial, 
212 ;  R.  throws  himself  on 
his  mercy,  214  ;  quits  London 
and  signs  R.'s  death-warrant, 
ib. ;  foiled  by  R.'s  bearing  at 
execution,  219  ;  R.  begs  his 
memory  to  be  saved  from 
scurrilous  writers,  220;  death 
of.  223 


23S 


Raleigh 


Jarcac,  battle  of,  4 

JeafFreson,  J.  Cordy,  contribu- 
tion by,  vi. ;  researches  in 
Middlesex  Kecords,  6,  20; 
researches  in  Assembly  Books 
of  K.  Lynn,  38 

Jersey,  R.  seeks  Governorship 
of,  114;  R.  succeeds  Sir  A. 
Paulet  as  Governor,  116  ;  ac- 
count of  and  effect  of  R.'s 
rule  in,  116-117 ;  Norman 
gentry  in,  127  ;  King  James 
increased  R.'s  salary  for, 
133  ;  R.  displaced  for  Sir  J. 
Peyton,  141;  references  to 
R.  in,  126,  127 

Jesuit  captured  by  R.,  64 

Jewels,  R.'s  love  of,  20  ;  value 
on  his  person  when  arrested, 
20,  209 

Jonson,  Ben,  referred  by  Cam- 
den to  R.,  175 ;  assists  R. 
in  History  of  tlie  World,  175, 
176  ;  goes  with  young  Walter 
R.  to  Paris,  175 ;  his  Worfts, 
175 ;  jealous  of  Samuel 
Daniel,  183  ;  death  of,  223 

Keymis,  Captain,  with  R.  in 
Guiana,  80  ;  his  second  voy- 
age to  Guiana,  86 ;  com- 
mended to  Lady  R.,  140 ; 
gives  evidence  on  R.'s  trial 
under  fear  of  torture,  154 ; 
warden  of  Sherborne,  ]  64 ; 
and  Guiana,  174  ;  joins  R.'s 
fleet  at  Plymouth,  194  ;  com- 
mands Orinoco  gold  expedi- 
tion without  success,  200, 
201  ;  attacks  San  Thom6, 
201 ;  announces  to  R.  death 
of  his  son  Walter  R.,  %b.\ 
dejection  at  R.'s  reproach, 
asks  forgiveness,  xh. ;  writes 
to  Earl  of  Arundel,  xh. ;  com- 
mits suicide,  202 

Kilcolman,  Spenser's  Irish  seat, 
44 


King,  Captain  Samuel,  at- 
tempts R.'s  escape,  206-7-8 ; 
his  arrest,  208 
King's  Lynn  entertains  R,,  38 
Kinsale,  Spanish  landing  at, 
124 ;  R.  returns  from  Guiana 
to,  203 

La  Chesnee,  French  envoy, 
offers  escape  to  R.,  208,  211, 
212 

Lake,  Sir  Thomas,  to  send 
R.  from  Court,  133 

Lane,  Ralph,  leader  of  R.'s 
Virginian  colony,  29 ;  con- 
siders defence  against  Ar- 
mada, 37 

Languedoc,  Catholics  smoked 
out  at,  6 

La  Rienzi,  reference  to  at  R.'s 
trial,  148 

Leicester,  Earl  of,  R.  writes 
from  Lismore  to,  17 ;  R.  his 
protege  at  Court,  ib. ;  goes  to 
Netherlands  with  R.  and  Sir 
P.  Sidney,  18  ;  Queen  Eliza- 
beth quarrels  with,  %b. ;  re- 
conciled to  R.'s  Royal  favour, 
23 ;  in  Netherlands  and  in 
disgrace,  R.'s  sympathy,  32  ; 
reference  to,  35  ;  death  of,  50 

Lennox,  Duke  of,  diplomatic 
visit  to  Elizabeth,  124  ;  be- 
lieves R.  and  Cobham  op- 
posed King  James,  ih. 

Limerick,  victory  of  Sir  N. 
Malby  in  woods  of,  8 

*  Lion,'  Sir  R,  Southwell's  ship 
at  Cadiz,  95 

'  Lion  Whelp,*  Cecil's  ship,  67  ; 
R,  reinforced  at  Port  of 
Spain  by,  68 

Lisbon,  Drake  and  R.  with  ex- 
pedition at,  41-42 

Lismore,  Elizabethan  capital 
of  Munster,  15 

Lismore  Castle,  R.  rents  from 
Archbishop  of  Cashel,  34 


Index 


239 


Zismore  Papers  and  R.'s  refer- 
ences, vi.,  194,  203 

Loftie,  Rev.  W.  J.,  account  of 
R.'s  lodgings  in  Tower,  162 

London  citizens  aid  privateer- 
ing against  Spain,  59  ;  eager- 
ness to  share  spoil,  61  ; 
jewellers  or  goldsnilths  and 
Spanish  prize,  62  ;  plague  in, 
142 

Lostwithiel,  Stannaries  Court 
of,  117 


Macareo,  R.  tried  to  enter 
river,  69  ;  channel,  80 

MacCarthy,  Florence,  R.  ad- 
vises his  retention  in  Tower, 
129  ;  asks  CeciRo  permit  R. 
to  judge  him,  il. ;  his  His- 
tory <rf  the  Early  Ages  in 
Ireland,  129 

Mace,  Samuel,  commands  a 
Virginian  fleet  for  R.,  125 

MacDermod,  Cormac,  Lord  of 
Muskerry,  R.'s  severity  to,  128 

Macureguarai,  rich  city  of 
Guiana,  78 

Madeira,  R.'s  Virginian  ships 
stripped  at,  37 

•Madre  de  Dios,'  plate-ship, 
value  of  its  capture,  60; 
inquiry  as  to  disposal  of 
treasure,  62 

Magrath,  Meiler,  Archbishop 
of  Cashel,  34 

Malby,  Sir  Nicholas,  defeats 
Irish  rebels,  8 

Malet,  Sir  A.,  MSS.,  R.'s  un- 
popularity referred  to  in,  131 

Manamo,  R.  enters  the  Orinoco 
by  river,  69 

Manatee  seen  by  R.  in  Guiana, 
79 

Mannourie,  French  quack  at- 
tendant and  spy  on  R.,  207  ; 
gives  R.  a  detrimental  dose, 
ib. ;  bribed  by  R.,  208 ;  de- 


nounced by  R.,  220 ;  his  dis- 
grace, 223 

Manoa,  capital  of  Guiana,  69 

Markham  led  out  for  execution 
but  reprieved,  159,  160 

Marlowe's  career,  80 

Marriage  of  R.  to  Elizabeth 
Throckmorton,  63 

Martinez,  Juan,  journal  of  visit 
to  Manoa,  69 

•Maiy  Rose,'  Sir  G.  Carew's 
Cadiz  ship,  95 

Maurice  of  Nassau,  letters 
taken  to  Prince,  175 

Medina  Sidonia,  Duke  of,  his 
report  to  Philip  II.  of  Eng- 
lish attack  on  Cadiz,  98; 
burns  fleet  of  carracks  to 
avoid  capture  by  English,  99 

Meere,  John,  R.'s  bailiff  at 
Sherborne,  53 ;  his  dismissal 
and  revenge,  121 ;  arrests 
R.'s  new  bailiff,  121 ;  brings 
civil  action  against  R.,  122, 
127;  commissioner  for  de- 
spoiling Sherborne,  164 

Mellersh,  Cobham's  secretary, 
142 

Mexican  plate  fleet,  R.'s  designs 
on,  191,  202,  210,  213 

Mexico,  Gulf  of,  R.'s  early 
knowledge  of,  7 

Mexico,  its  revenue  to  Spain,  77 

Meyrick,  Sir  Gilly,  his  conduct 
towards  R.,  108 

Middle  Temple,  R.  in,  5 

Milton  inherits  and  publishes 
R.'s  The  Cabinet  Council,  185 

Mitcham,    Lady    R.    sells    an 

estate  at,  189 
Monarchy   of  Man,  by  Sir  J. 
Elyot,    describes    R.'s    last 
moments,  217 
Montcontour  in  France,  R.  at 

retreat  of,  4 
Montgomery,  death  of  Hugue- 
not chief,  4 
Mont  Orgueil,  Jersey,  117 


240 


Raleigh 


Morequito,  port  on  Eiver  Ori- 
noco, 74 ;  its  chief  Topia- 
wari,  78 

Mulla.     See  Awbeg,  44 

Munster,  R.  temporary  gover- 
nor of,  succeeded  by  Zouch, 
15  ;  Sentleger  provost-mar- 
shal in,  9  ;  Spenser  clerk  of 
the  council  of,  44 ;  life  in, 
ih. ;  R.'s  efforts  to  improve, 
47 ;  severity  of  President 
against  Cormac  MacDermod, 
128 

Muskerry,  Lord  of,  severity 
against,  128 


Naunton's  description  of  R, 
20,22 

Navigation,  R.  considering  in- 
ternational, 56 

Netherlands,  Earl  of  Leicester 
in,  28,  32 ;  Devon  miners 
serve  in,  32 ;  R.'s  Discourse 
.  .  .  the  Protecting  of,  135 

Newfoundland,  R.  in,  33,  203  ; 
R.  establishes  trade  with 
Jersey,  117 

Ninias,  R.'s  account  of  King, 
181 

*Nonparilla,'  R.,  Dudley's  ship 
at  Cadiz,  95 

North,  Captain,  tells  the  King 
of  R.'s  Guiana  failure,  203 

North-West  Passage,  R.'s  ef- 
forts, its  discovery,  28  ;  and 
northern  route  to  China, 
28 

Northampton,  Lord,  interviews 
R.  in  Tower,  172  ;  R.'s  enemy 
removed,  187 ;  at  R.'s  execu- 
tion, 218 

Northumberland,  Earl  of,  R, 
visits  at  Sion  House,  114  ; 
goes  to  Ostend  with  R.,  115; 
invited  to  Bath,  127 

Nottingham,  Earl  of.  See 
Howard 


Old  Palace  Yard,  R.  exe- 
cuted at,  214 

Oldys,  William,  Life  of  R.,  iii. ; 
reference  to,  101 

Olonne,  R,  captures  and  forfeits 
to  Treasury  a  bark  of,  42 

Orange,  Prince  of,  Elizabeth 
sends  R.  to,  18  ;  Leicester  ac- 
cused of  conspiracy  with,  ih. 

Orinoco,  R.'s  expedition  to 
river,  67,  69-81 ;  second  ex- 
pedition up,  200 ;  failure  to 
find  gold,  201 

Ormond,  governor  of  Munster, 
10;  desire  to  treat  with 
Irish,  11 ;  obtains  pardon  for 
the  rebels,  13  ;  quarrels  with 
R.,  15 ;  denounced  for  leni- 
ency, 22 

Ostend,  R.  and  Northumber- 
land visit,  115 

Oxford,  R,  educated  at,  3,  6 

Oxford's,  Lord,  quarrel  with 
Sir  P.  Sidney,  7 ;  at  execu- 
tion of  R.,  218 

Panama  pearl    fisheries,   25 ; 

R.'s  scheme  to  seize,  54 
Parlmments,    Prerogative     of^ 

112,  180 
Paulet,  Sir  Anthony,  governor 

of  Jersey,  death,  116 
Paunsf  ord,  Richard,  servant  of 

R.,  6 
Pecora  Campi.     See  Hatton 
Pelham,  Sir  William,  Irish  com- 
mand, 9,  10 
Pembroke,    Earl    of,   succeeds 

R.  in  Duchy  of  Cornwall,  163 
Pembroke,    Lady,    R.'s  friend 

in  hour  of  trial,  157  ;  her  son 

intercedes  for  R.,  ih. 
Peryam,    Sir    William,    Chief 

Baron  of  Exchequer,  127 
Pew,   Hugh,   steals  R.'s  pearl 

hatband,  &c.,  20 
Peyton,    Sir     John,    succeeds 

R.  in  Jersey,  141  j  Sir  John 


Index 


241 


the  younger  messenger  be- 
tween Cobham  and  R.,  144 

Philip  of  Spain's  Armada,  re- 
sistance to,  37  ;  expels  An- 
tonio from  Portugal,  41 ;  do- 
sire  to  recover  prestige,  105  ■ 

Philip  III,  demands  R.'s  exe- 
cution, 212 ;  foiled  by  R.'s 
conduct  at  execution,  219 

Phoenix  Nest,  34 

Pllyrimage,  R.  writes  The,  159 

Piratical  expedition  by  R. 
stopped,  7 

Plymouth,  7,  27,  29,  36,  38,  67, 
89,  90,  91,  100,  105, 106, 117, 
194,  203 

Popham,  Lord  Chief  Justice, 
tries  R.  at  Winchester,  146  ; 
hissed  at  conclusion  of  R.'s 
trial,  157 ;  declares  R.'s  Sher- 
borne conveyance  invalid, 
164 

Popham,  Captain  George,  cap- 
tures Spanish  letters,  66 

Portland,  R.  as  governor  com- 
pletes defences  of,  38 

Portugal,  expedition  to  restore 
Antonio,  41 ;  R.  serves  under 
Drake  at  Lisbon,  ih. 

Potato  introduced  into  Ireland 
by  R.,  48 ;  distributed  by 
ancestor  of  Lord  Southwell, 
ih. 

Prerogative  of  Parliaments,  by 
R.,  112,  180;  its  publication 
and  intention,  183 ;  King 
James  forbids  its  printing, 
184 ;  issued  posthumously, 
ih. ;  MS.  in  Record  Office,  ih. 

Preston,Captain  Amyas,  harries 
Venezuela,  81 

Prest,  Agnes,  her  martyrdom, 
2 ;  indirect  effect  on  R.'s  re- 
ligion, 3 

•  Prudence,'  a  London  ship,  59 

Puerto  Rico  friars,  69 

Purchas,  his  collection  of 
travels,  85 


Puritans,   Essex  and  R.  their 

friends,  50 
Puttenham's    praise  of    Shep' 

Jierd's  Caleiider,  44 


Queen  of  James  I.,  R.'s  friend, 
169,  188 ;  her  father,  Chris- 
tian IV.,  169  ;  Samuel  Daniel 
a  servant  of,  183  :  R.'s  rhym- 
ing petition  to,  209 ;  exer- 
tions to  save  R.,  210;  death 
of.  223 


•  Rainbow,'  Sir  F.  Vere's  ship 
at  Cadiz,  95 

Rakele,  R.  meets  Spenser  at, 
10;  R.'s  treatment  of  Irish 
kerns  at,  11 

Raleigh,  Carew,  son  of  Sir 
Walter,  166 ;  reference  to, 
200,  222 

Raleigh,  George,  Sir  Walter's 
nephew,  200 

Raleigh  nee  Gilbert,  Mrs.,  Sir 
Walter's  mother,  1 ;  her  re- 
ligion, 2 

Raleigh  town,  Vu^ginia,  36 

Raleigh,  Walter,  the  elder,  his 
third  marriage,  1 ;  diversity 
of  spelling  his  name,  2 ; 
family  lease  of  fish  tithes,  2 ; 
latest  mention  of,  his  age,  16 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  Lives  of,  v. ; 
correspondence  of,  v. ;  biblio- 
graphy by  Dr.  Brushfield,  vi.; 
love  of  birthplace,  1 ;  con- 
nections and  parentage,  1  ; 
earliest  record  of,  2  ;  educa- 
tion and  career  at  Oxford,  3 ; 
convicted  of  assault,  7  ;  goes 
to  Ireland,  9  ;  with  Spenser, 
10,  43,  48,  49  ;  character 
whilst  in  Ireland,  14 ;  pecu- 
niary position,  16,  30,  34,  42, 
116,  126,  129,  133,  141,  162, 
189,  190,  194  ;  his  person  in 


242 


Raleigh 


1582,  20;  mother  wit  and 
audacious  alacrity,  22 ;  suc- 
cess as  a  courtier,  23  ;  Koyal 
gifts  to,  24,  25 ;  continues 
iSir  H.  Gilbert's  efforts,  28  ; 
and  Virginia,  29,  37,  41, 125; 
granted  licence  to  export 
woollen  broadcloths,  their 
nature  and  value,  29,  30 ; 
resides  at  Durham  House, 
31 ;  receives  knighthood, 
31  ;  successful  expedition 
to  Azores,  33 ;  elegy  on 
Sir  Philip  Sidney,  ih. ;  ex- 
perience as  an  Irish  colon- 
ist, 34 ;  zenith  of  personal 
success,  35  ;  part  in  fighting 
Armada,  37  ;  privateering 
expeditions,  their  excuse,  40, 
41 ;  forced  return  to  Ireland, 
42 ;  his  poem  of  Cynthia,  45 ; 
developes  his  Irish  estates, 
47 ;  introduces  the  potato, 
48  ;  and  Puritans,  his  tolera- 
tion, 50;  Report  on  Gren- 
vine's  fight  in  the  *  Us- 
venge,'  51 ;  obtains  Sherborne 
Castle,  52-53 ;  clandestine 
relations  with  Elizabeth 
TiiTockmorton,  55  ;  embroil- 
ment between  Queen  and 
Mrs.  Throckmorton,  55-57; 
confined  in  the  Tower,  57 ; 
failure  in  health,  59,  63,  110, 
114,  168,  187,  199,  200  ;  re- 
leased to  quell  disturbance 
in  Devon,  61 ;  his  popularity 
in  Devon,  61 ;  marriage  with 
E.  Throckmorton,  63  ;  eager- 
ness for  service,  64;  attracted 
to  Guiana,  66;  and  Guiana 
gold,  75-77;  publishes  Dis- 
covery of  Giiiarm,  84  ;  merit 
as  a  writer  of  travel,  85  ;  his 
Of  the  Voyage  for  Guiana, 
87  ;  naval  skill  first  fully  re- 
cognised, 89 ;  taking  of 
Cadiz,  brilliant  triumph  for, 


91 ;  his  Relation  of  tTie  Ac- 
tion in  Cadiz  Harhour,  92; 
details  of  his  Cadiz  com- 
mand, 92-99;  wounded  in 
the  leg,  98 ;  preparation  for 
third  Guiana  expedition, 
101 ;  lauded  by  literary 
classes  on  return  from  Cadiz, 
102  ;  intimacy  with  Cecil  and 
Brooke  family,  102 ;  exer- 
tions to  provoke  second 
attack  on  Spain,  105 ;  sails 
with  fleet  to  attack  Azores ; 
success  at  Fayal,  which  pro- 
vokes Essex,  105-109 ;  only 
nominally  in  Queen's  favour, 
111 ;  his  Prerogative  of  Par- 
liament, 112,  183-184;  seeks 
various  dignities  without 
success,  ih. ;  increasing  en- 
mity with  Essex,  and  friend^ 
ship  with  Cobham,  113; 
height  of  fame  as  a  geo- 
grapher, 114 ;  his  share  in 
the  execution  of  Essex,  118- 
121 ;  comes  under  notice  of 
James  of  Scotland,  123  ;  his 
Dangers  of  the  Spanish  Fac- 
tion in  Scotland,  124 ;  his 
view  of  Irish  affairs  in  1601, 
lb. ;  not  a  complete  loser  by 
his  expeditions,  126  ;  severe 
action  towards  Cormac 
McDermod,  128;  advises 
detention  of  F.  MacCarthy 
in  Tower,  129;  good  fortune 
ceases  with  Elizabeth's  death, 
ib. ;  character,  condition,  and 
fame  in  1603,  130-131 ;  un- 
graciously received  by  King 
James,  132;  sent  from  Court 
of  James,  133;  not  judicious 
towards  James,  134  ;  Spanish 
schemes  distasteful  to  King, 
135  ;  arrested  for  complicity 
in  Watson's  plot,  136;  com- 
promised by  Cobham,  136, 
137 ;  committed  to  the  Tower, 


Index 


243 


137;  attempts  Buicide,  137, 
138,  141;  supposed  farewell 
letter  to  his  lady,  137-140; 
stripped  of  his  appointments, 
141 ;  communications  with 
Cobham,  141, 144,145;  enmity 
of  populace  to,  145  ;  trial  at 
Winchester,  146-157;  letter 
to  K.  James  suing  for  life, 
158,  159;  poem  The  Pilgrim' 
age,  159;  reprieved  at  hour 
for  execution,  160 ;  confine- 
ment in  Tower,  160,  164, 
167,  168 ;  efforts  for  his  re- 
lease, 169 ;  friendship  with 
Queen  and  Prince  Henry, 
169  ;  asks  permission  to  go 
to  Guiana,  170,  174;  literary 
pursuits,  171 ;  consulted  by 
P/  Henry  in  shipbuilding, 
173-4  ;  writing  Marriage 
Discourses,  174;  History  of 
World  and  Ben  Jonson,  175, 
176-182;  demands  for  his 
MS.,  184 ;  his  Cabinet  Coun- 
cil ;  Discourse  of  War ;  and 
Observations  on  Trade  and 
Commerce,  185,  186 ;  his  re- 
lease and  conditions,  188, 
189;  prepares  second  voyage 
to  Guiana,  189-191 ;  in- 
trigues for  seizure  of  Genoa, 
192  ;  leaves  for  Guiana — fleet 
vicissitudes,  193-194 ;  de- 
tails of  outward  voyage, 
195-200 ;  meets  an  old  ser- 
vant in  Guiana,  200;  his 
son  slain  at  San  Thome,  201 ; 
fails  to  discover  gold,  201 ; 
his  faithful  Keymis  commits 
suicide,  202  :  mutiny  of  his 
fleet  ib.  ;  ignominious  re- 
turn to  England,  203,  205  ; 
arrest  and  attempted  escape, 
206,  208 ;  vnrites  Apology  for 
the  Voyage  to  Guiana,  208 ; 
valuables  found  on  his  per- 
son,   209 ;    James    uninflu- 

22 


enced  by  Apology,  ib. ;  rhym- 
ing petition  to  Queen ;  her 
exertions,  209,  210 ;  exam- 
ined before  Commissioners, 
210,  212  ;  written  confession 
to  the  King,  212;  if  par- 
doned declares  ability  to 
reveal  State  secrets,  ib. ; 
trial,  defence,  condemna- 
tion, 212,  213,  214;  bearing 
night  before  execution.  214- 
6 ;  last  interview  with  his 
Lady,  215  ;  last  versus,  ib. ; 
proposed  burial  at  Bedding 
ton,  215  ;  last  moments, 
conduct  on  scaffold,  216- 
220 ;  reason  for  attempted 
escape  to  France,  219  ;  exe- 
cution, 221;  body  in  St. 
Margaret's,  Westminster, 
222;  his  head  embalmed 
and  preserved,  ib.  ;  death 
roll  of  his  friends,  223 

Ealeigh,  Walter,  the  younger, 
114,  116;  and  Sherborne 
estates,  143 ;  at  Oxford ;  his 
tutors,  171 ;  wins  a  fatal 
duel,  175  ;  and  Ben  Jonson, 
ib. ;  Captain  of  the  ♦  Destiny,' 
193;  with  Keymis  in  Orin- 
oco gold  expedition,  200 ; 
killed  at  San  Thom6,  last 
words,  201 

Ealeigh,  Lady,  and  see  Throck- 
morton; influence  over  Cecil, 
84 ;  appeals  to  Cecil,  110, 
144,  158;  and  Durham 
House,  117,  133  ;  her  hus- 
band's supposed  farewell 
letter,  137-140  ;  shares 
rooms  in  Tower,  162  ;  and 
Sherborne  Estates,  144,  164, 
165,  171,  172;  pleads  with 
James  for  R.'s. pardon,  169; 
sells  an  estate  at  Mitcham, 
189;  letter  from  R.  in 
Guiana,  200 ;  meets  R.  at 
Plymouth,  206  ;  precedes  R. 


244 


Raleigh 


to  London,  207 ;  released 
from  Tower,  212  ;  final  inter- 
view with  R.,  215  ;  and 
burial  of  her  husband,  215, 
222  ;  her  death,  222 

Rebellion  in  Ireland,  R.'s  share 
in  suppression,  9-16 

Remains  oi  R.'s  writings,  187 

'  Repulse,'  Essex's  ship  off 
Cadiz,  93  ;  off  Azores,  107 

Revenge,'  R.'s  ship,  42 

*  Revenge,^    A    Jt-eport    of  the 

Truth  oftlie  Fight,  etc.,  51  ; 
its    style    and    anonymous 
issue,  ib. 
Richard    the     Second,    Cecil 
entertains  Essex  and  R,  with 
Shakespeare,  103-104 
Richelieu  refers  to  R.,  193 
Rimenant,  R.  at  battle  of,  5 
Roanoke,     discovery    of,    28 ; 

settled  by  Ralph  Lane,  29 
Roche,   Lord  and  Lady,  cap- 
tured by  R.,  15 
Rochelle  privateers  strip   R.'s 
ships,  37 

•  Roebuck,'  R.'s  ship  captures 

'Madre  de  Dios,'  60 
Roraima,  79  ■ 
Rutland,   Countess  of.   Sir  P. 

Sidney's  sister,  175 

Sachaeissa,  grand- daughter  of 

R.'s  cousin,  33 
Saint    Germain,    R.    receives 

manor  of,  116 
Salisbury,  R.  ill  at,  207,  208 ; 

K.  James  and  Court  at,  208 
Salisbury,    See    of,    and    R.'s 

Sherborne  estate,  52,  53,  64 
Salisbury,   Cecil   created  Earl 

of,  166 
Salisbury,  William,  Second  Earl 

of,  playmate  to  young  Walter 

R.,  114  ;  at  Sherborne,  116 
Salto  Caroni,  cataract  of,  74 
San  Juan  de  Ulloa,  6 


San  Miguel,  its  capture  arrang- 
ed, 107,  109 

San  Rafael  de  Barrancas  settle- 
ment, 72 

San  Theme,  R.'s  captain  at- 
tacks, 201 ;  R.'s  eldest  son 
killed  at,  ih. ;  news  of  attack 
reaches  Spain  and  England, 
205 

Bancroft,  Archbishop,  attri- 
butes History  of  England  to 
R.,  182 

Sandars,  a  legate,  and  Irish 
rebellion,  8 

Sarmiento,  Don  Pedro,  cap- 
tured by  R.,  33 

Sarmiento.     See  Gondomar 

Savage,  Sir  Arthur,  and  Due  de 
Biron,  122 ;  reference  to,  125 

Savoy  watched  by  Venice,  190 

Scarnafissi,  Savoyard  Envoy, 
192;  R.  suggests  to  him 
seizure  of  Genoa,  ih. ;  lays 
R.'s  scheme  before  King 
James ;  its  rejection,  ih. 

Schomburgk,  Sir  Robert,  cor- 
roborates R.  in  Guiana,  71,  72 

Sentleger,  Sir  Warham,  Irish 
command,  8 ;  Provost  Mar- 
shal of  Munster,  9 

Sentleger,  Sir  William,  com- 
mand in  Guiana  fleet,  194 

Shakespeare's  advent,  85  ;  per- 
formance of  his  Richard  the 
Second,  104 

Shepherd  of  the  Ocean,  R.  so 
named  by  Spenser,  44, 46-7 

Shepherd^s  Calender  by  Spen- 
ser, 10,  44  ;  references  to  R. 
in,  45 

Sherborne,  R.'s  favourite 
country  abode,  52 ;  R.'s  ac- 
quirement of,  62,  53  ;  R. 
at,  63,  67,  71,  87,  100,  114, 
126, 127,  207;  Dean  of  Sarum 
lets  farms  over  R.'s  head, 
64  ;  remnant  of  R.'s  fortune ; 
tries  to  tie  it  to  his  son  and 


Index 


245 


Adrian  Gilbert,  143;  Sir  J. 
Elphinstone  applies  for,  tJ.; 
E.  conveys  it  to  his  son  with 
rent  charge  to  Lady  E., 
144;  supports  E.  six  years 
in  Tower,  162  ;  King's  Com- 
missioners spoiling,  163; 
Cecil  stays  commissioners, 
ib. ;  held  on  trust  for  Lady 
R.  by  Sir  A.  Brett,  164; 
R.'s  conveyance  declared 
invalid,  164,  165 ;  Keymis 
warder  of,  1 64 ;  Lady  E. 
pleads  for  secure  tenure  of, 
171 ;  James  covets  it  for 
and  bestows  it  on  Carr,  171, 
172;  repurchased  for  Prince 
Henry,  172  ;  Lady  E,  receives 
8,000'Z  in  lieu  of,  ih. ;  E.'s  last 
sojourn  at,  207 

Shipping,  E.'s  Invention  of,  18 

Sidmouth  Church,  earliest  E. 
deed  preserved  at,  2 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  E.'s  contem- 
porary at  Oxford,  3  ;  tennis 
court  quarrel,  7  ;  handsome 
features,  20;  E.'s  elegy  on, 
33 

Sidney,  Eobert,  marries  E.'s 
cousin,  33 

Simancas,  E.'s  map  of  Guiana 
found  at,  83 ;  E.'s  confession 
of  French  intrigues  found 
at,  212 

Sion  House,  E.  visits  Earl  of 
Northumberland  at,  114 

Smerwick  Bay,  Spanish  inva- 
sion at,  8 

Southwell,  Sir  Eobert,  with 
Cadiz  expedition,  95 

Southwell,  Lord,  his  ancestor 
distributes  E.'s  potatoes,  48 

Southampton,  Earl  of,  his 
amusement,  111 

Spain  and  E.,  25,  30,  32,  50, 
61,  52,  84  ;  attack  and  cap- 
ture of  its  plate  ships,  59- 
60;    E.   tries  to  stem  flow 


of  gold  to,  76-77 ;  effect  of 
Cadiz  expedition  on,  101  ;  E. 
counsels  a  second  attack  on, 
105 ;  expedition  to,  and  its 
accidents,  105,  106;  alters 
destiny  for  Azores,  107 ;  in- 
vades Ireland  at  Kinsale,  124; 
King  James  waiting  over- 
tures from,  135;  R.'s  Dis- 
course touching  War  withy 
ih. ;  E.'s  offer  to  raise  and 
lead  troops  against,  ih. ; 
watching  France,  190  ; 
Guiana  route  submitted  to, 
191 ;  offers  E.  escort  to 
Guiana  gold  mines,  ih. ;  pro- 
mised security  at  peril  of 
E.'s  life,  192,  205;  asks 
punishment  of  E.  for  San 
Thome  attack,  ih.]  Buck- 
ingham favourable  to,  210 ; 
James,  the  attempted  cats- 
paw  of  E.  against,  211 ;  Eng- 
lish pensioners  in  pay  of,  ih. 

Spanish  Alarum, The, hj  E.,  104 

Spanish  Ambassador  pleads  for 
E.'s  life,  158 

Spanish  Armada,  38-39,  88 

Spanish  Faction  in  Scotland, 
the  Bangers  of  a,  124 

Spanish  invasion  of  England, 
E.'s  advice  against,  37-38 

Sparrey,  Francis,  volunteers  to 
stay  in  Guiana,  79  ;  captured 
by  Spaniards;  his  account 
of  Guiana,  ih. 

Spenser,  Edmund,  secretary  to 
Lord  Grey  in  Ireland,  10; 
\as  Shepherd's  Calender;  first 
meets  E.,  ih.,  20 ;  Colin  Clout, 
evidence  of  E.'s  position  with 
Queen,  43:  effect  of  E.'s 
friendship  on,  ih. ;  his  Faery 
Queen  and  E.'s  adventures 
compared,  ih. ;  Clerk  of 
Council  of  Munster,  44  ;  Irish 
estate,  ih. ;  returns  to  Eng- 
land ;  at  Court  with  E.,  48 ; 


246 


Raleigh 


secures  a  pension  for  Faery 
Qiceen,  49 

•  St.    Andrew,'    rich     Spanish 

prize  taken  at  Cadi/,  99 
St.  Bartholomew's,  K.  and  mas- 
sacre on,  4 
St.  John,  J.  A.,  Life  of  H.,  iii.  ; 
discovery    of    R.'s    map    of 
Guiana,  83 ;  prints  R.'s  con- 
fession, 212 
St.  John,  Oliver,  trial  of,  1 84 
St.  John,  Sir  William,  efforts 

for  R.'s  release,  188 
St.    Margaret's,    Westminster, 
R.'s  body  buried  in,  222 

•  St.  Matthew,'  valuable  prize 

taken  at  Cadiz,  98,  99 

•  St.  Philip,'  R.'s  contest  at  Ca- 

diz with,  96,  98 ;  saved  from 
total  destruction  bj'^Dutch,  99 

Stafford,  Sir  Edward,  tells 
Bacon  of  R.  in  Tower,  57 ; 
his  kinswoman  wife  of  Go- 
vernor of  Gomera,  1 97 

Stannaries,  R.  Lord  Warden  of 
the,  32,  64,  128,  141 

Stead,  death  of,  198 

Steel  Glass,  Gascoigne's,  5 ; 
verses  prefixed  by  R.  to,  ib. 

Stourton,  Lady,  R.  arrests  a 
Jesuit  in  house  of,  24 

Strozzi,  Peter,  lost  at  Azores,  39 

Stuart,  Arabella,  conspirators 
for,  102 ;  her  descent  and 
relationship  to  James  I., 
142,  143  ;  protests  her  igno- 
rance of  plot  at  R.'s  trial, 
155  ;  James  wishes  to  spare, 
ib. ;  her  death,  R.  deprived  of 
her  pearls,  187 

Stukely,  Sir  Lewis,  R.'s  cousin, 
arrests  R.,  206 ;  hires  French 
quack  to  inveigle  R.,  207  ; 
bribed  by  and  betrays  R., 
208 ;  valuables  on  R.'s  person 
fall  to,  209 ;  denounced  by 
R.,  220;  condemned  for 
clipping  coin,  222 ;    fled  to 


Lundy  and  died  a  maniac, 

223 
Suffolk  urges  severity  against 

R.,  141 
'  Summer's     Nightingale,'     R. 

styled  the,  49 


Talbot,  John,  R.'s  secretary  in 
Tower,  death  of,  199 

Tarleton,  comedian,  his  remark 
against  R.  at  Court,  36 

Tax  on  tavern-keepers  ascribed 
to  R.  but  due  to  Queen,  131 

Temple,  Middle,  R,  in,  5      — 

Tennyson,  Lord,  praise  of  Sir 
R.  Grenville,  51 

Teivliesbury,  Annals  of.  Ill 

Throckmorton,  Arthur,  dispute 
and  dismissal  from  fleet,  90 ; 
restored  by  R.'s  influence, 
91 ;  gains  distinction  at 
Cadiz,  91 

Throckmorton,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Sir  Nicholas, 
55 ;  her  love  of  R.,  55  ;  pri- 
vate marriage  with  R.,  ib., 
63  ;  confined  in  Tower,  57 ; 
see  R.,  Lady 

Thynne,  Francis,  R.'scousin,214 

'  Tiger,'  Sir  R.  Grenville's  ship, 
29 

Tipperary,  R.  granted  estates 
in,  34 

Tonson,  navigator,  6 

Topiawari,  friendly  Guiana 
chief,  78,  79 

Tounson,  Dean  of  Westminster, 
R.'s  spiritual  adviser,  214 ; 
describes  R.  in  face  of  death, 
214-215  ;  attends  R.'s  execu- 
tion, 216 

Tower,  R.  confined  in,  57,  137, 
138,  142,  145,  160,  161-188, 
209  ;  R.  attempts  suicide  in, 
137  ;  plague  in  outlying 
posts  of,  142 ;  R.'s  apart- 
ments in  Garden  or  Bloody 


Index 


247 


Tower,  162  ;  malaria  in,  164 ; 
Lady  R.  and  son  leaves,  165 ; 
R.'s  experiments  in  garden 
of,  168 ;  death  of  Arabella 
Stuart  in,  187 ;  release  of 
R.,  188 

Tower,  Lieutenants  of,  in 
charge  of  R.,  Sir  G.  Harvey 
and  8ir  J.  Peyton,  141  ;  Sir 
William  Waad,  167 ;  Sir  A. 
Apsley  and  Sir  T.Wilson, 211 

Trade  and  Cammerce,  R.  on, 
186 ;  a  plea  for  free  trade, 
186-187 ;  when  published, 
187 

Trinidad,  A.  de  Berreo  Gover- 
nor of,  66 ;  visited  by  R.'s 
expedition,  67,  200 ;  its 
liquid  pitch  and  oysters, 
67 ;  R.  returns  from  Guiana 
to,  80 


Udall,  John,  protected  by 
R.  and  Essex,  50 

Underwoods,  verses  by  R.  attri- 
buted to  Ben  Jonson,  517 


Vanlore,  Pieter,  R.  borrows 
of,  190 

Venezuela  coast  plundered  by 
R.'s  expedition,  81 ;  precau- 
tions against  English,  ih. 

Venice  watching  Savoy,  190 

Vere,  Sir  Francis,  with  Cadiz 
expedition,  95, 97 ;  to  attempt 
with  Howard  capture  of  Gra- 
ciosa,  107 

Villiers,  favourable  to  R.,  187  ; 
animus  against  Somerset, 
188;  urged  to  intervene  for 
R.,  210 ;  pledged  to  Spanish 
alliance,  ih. 

Virginia,  discovery  of,  28 ; 
failure  of  a  second  expedi- 
tion to,  29;  its  products 
attract  R.,  30;  collapse  of 


R.'s  colony,  33 ;  a  fourth 
expedition  fails,  36 ;  expendi- 
ture on  abortive  fifth  expedi- 
tion, 37 ;  R.'s  relief  vessels 
stripped  by  privateers,  ih. ; 
drain  on  R.'s  fortune  ;  leases 
patent,  41  ;  never  visited  by 
R.,  ih.',  R.'s  final  effort  to 
colonise,  125  ;  R.  not  a  com- 
plete loser  by  expeditions  to, 
126 ;  expected  return  of  an 
expedition  by  R.,  40 


Waad,  Sir  W.,  takes  R.  to  Win- 
chester for  trial,  145  ;  special 
commissioner  at  R.'s  trial, 
146  ;  thinks  R.  too  comfort- 
able in  Tower,  162  ;  succeeds 
as  Lieutenant  of  Tower,  167 ; 
suspicion  of  R.'s  experi- 
ments, 168  ;  reference  to,  170 

Walsingham  and  R.  in  Paris  on 
St.  Bartholomew's  eve,  4 ; 
massacre  of  Fort  del  Ore  re- 
ported to,  12  ;  reference  to, 
32  ;  death  of,  50 

Walton,  Izaak,  accounts  of  Ben 
Jonson  and  R.,  175 

War,  R.'s  A  Discourse  of,  185- 
6 ;  most  pleasing  of  R.'s 
prose  writings,  185 

Warburton,  judge  at  R.'s  Win- 
chester trial,  146 

♦  War  Sprite,'  R.'s  ship  in  Cadiz 
expedition,  94 

Waterford,  R.  granted  estates 
in,  34 ;  trade  in  pipe-staves 
encouraged  by  R.,  47 

Watson's  plot,  135;  his  convic- 
tion and  execution,  158 

Webbe's  praise  of  SliepJierd's 
Calender,  44 

West  Indies,  Sir  W.  R.'s  voy- 
age to  the,  7 ;  R.'s  early  visits 
to,  ih. 

West  Horsley  Church,  R.'s  head 
rests  in.  222 


rv<^ 


248 


Raleigh 


Wexford,  its  trade  in  pipe- 
staves  encouraged  by  K.,  47 

Weymouth,  R.  at,  100, 104,  116, 
127 

Whiddon,  Captain  Jacob,  visits 
Guiana  for  R.,  66  ;  examines 
mouths  of  Orinoco,  69 

White,  Captain  John,  fourth 
Virginian  expedition,  36 ; 
lands  at  Hatorask.  His  fail- 
ure, ib. 

White,  Roland,  records  R.  at 
Court,  103 

Whitlock,  Captain,  167 

Willoughby,  Ambrose,  Esquire 
of  the  body,  111 

Wilson,  Sir  Thomas,  spy  on 
R.,  211 ;  his  acquaintance 
with  Raleigia  in  Tower,  ih. 

Winchester,  Marquis  of,  enter- 
tains Queen  and  French  en- 
voys at  Basing  House,  123 

Winchester,  R.  tried  at  Wol- 
vesey  Castle,  145 ;  R.  con- 
fined in,  157,  159;  R.  re- 
moved from,  160 

Winchester,  Bishop  of,  atten- 
dant on,  158 

W^ines,  farm  of,  R.  granted,  24, 
25;  King  James  transfers 
it  to  E.  of  Nottingham, 
141 


Win  wood,  Sir  Ralph,  favourable 
to  R.,  187,  204;  hater  of 
Spain,  188;  visits  R.'s  ship 
'Destiny,'  192;  ignores  Bail- 
ey's charge  against  R.,  199  ; 
R.  writes  of  his  Gruiana  failure 
to,  202  ;  his  death,  203,  204 

Wither,  George,  prophecy  of 
English  supremacy  in 
America,  25 

Wokoken,  discovery  of,  28 

Wood,  Anthony  ^,  records  R. 
at  Oxford,  3 

Worlis  by  Ben  Jonson,  and  R.'s 
verses,  175 


Yelverton,  Attorney- General, 
prosecutes  R.,  210,  214 

Yetminster  Manor  given  to 
R.,  53 

Youghal  burned  by  Geral- 
dines,  8 ;  destruction  of 
Geraldine  Friary,  34;  R.'s 
residence  at,  34, 44  ;  yew  tree 
contemporary  with  R.  still 
at,  48 ;  potato  first  planted 
at,  48 


ZOUCH,  in  trenches  at  Fort  del 
Ore,  12 ;  at  Lismore,  15 


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GARRICK By  W.  H.  Pollock. 

ADMIRAL  BLAKE By  David  Hannay. 

RALEIGH By  Edmund  Gosse. 

BEN  JONSON By  J.  A.  Symonds. 

IZAAK  WALTON By  Andrew  Lang. 

CANNING By  Frank  H.  Hill. 

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VOLUMES  NOW  READY. 

CHARLES   DARWIN. 

By  Grant  Allex.  Being  Volume  One  of  a  New  Bio- 
graphic Series,  entitled  "Englisli  Worthies,"  edited  by 
Andeew  Lang.     16mo.     Cloth,  75  cents. 

MARLBOROUGH. 

By  George  Saintsburt.  Being  Volume  Two  of  a  New 
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SHAFTESBURY. 

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graphic Series,  entitled  "English  Worthies,"  edited  by 
Andrew  Lang.     16mo.     Cloth,  75  cents. 

ADMIRAL   BLAKE. 

By  David  Hannat.  Being  Volume  Four  of  a  New  Bio- 
graphic Series,  entitled  "English  Worthies,"  edited  by 
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HISTORY   OF   THE    WORLD,  from  the  Earliest  Records  to  the 

Fall  of  the  Western  Empire.    By  Philip  Smith,  B.  A.    New  edition. 

S  vols.     8vo.     Vellum  cloth,  gilt  top,  $6.00;  half  calf,  $13.50. 

"These  volumes  embody  the  repults  of  many  years  of  arduous  and  conscien- 
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tory  book  on  the  subject  written  in  our  iaoguagre.  The  author's  methods  are 
dii^nified  and  judicious,  and  he  has  availed  himself  of  all  the  recent  li^'ht  thrown 
by  philological  research  ou  the  annals  of  the  East."— i)r.  C.  K.  Adams's  Manual 
of  Historical  Literature. 

HISTORY  OF   HERODOTUS.     An  English  Version,  edited,  with 

Copious  Notes  and  Appendices,  by  George  Rawlinson,  M.  A.    With 

Maps   and   Illustrations.     In   four  volumes,    8vo.      Vellum  cloth, 

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for  it  during  many  years.  There  was  scarcely  a  city  of  importance  in  Greece, 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Persia,  Arabia,  or  Egypt,  that  he  had  not  visited  and  studied  ; 
and  almost  every  page  of  his  work  contains  results  of  his  personal  inquiries  and 
observations.  Many  things  laughed  at  for  centuries  as  impossible  are  now 
found  to  have  been  described  in  strict  accordance  with  truth."— Z>r.  C.  K. 
Adams's  Manual  of  Historical  Literature. 

A    GEXERAIi    HISTORY   OF   GREECE,   from   the  Earliest 

Period  to  the  Death  of  Alexander  the  Great.    With  a  Sketch  of  the 

Subsequent  History  to  the  Present  Time.      By  G.  W.  Cox.      12mo. 

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A   HISTORY   OF   GREECE.     From  the  Earliest  Times   to  the 

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heroism  and  the  sacrifices  of  the  Hellenes  in  their  first  war  for  independence, 
nor,  in  delineating  the  character  of  that  epoch,  to  form  my  judgment  largely 
from  the  records  ha  has  left  vi^.""— Extract  from  Preface. 

GREECE   IN   THE    TIMES    OF   HOMER.      An  Account  of 

the  Life,  Customs,  and  Habits  of  the  Greeks  during  the  Homeric 

Period.     By  T.  T.  Timayenis.     16mo.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  In  the  preparation  of  the  present  volume  I  have  conscientiously  examined 
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my  great  teacher  and  guide  has  been  Homer  himself."— ^rom  the  Preface, 


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HISTORY  OF  CIVILIZATION  IN  ENGLAND.  By  IIexry 
Thomas  Buckle.    2  vols.    8vo.    Cloth,  $4.00 ;  half  calf,  extra,  $8.00. 

"  Whoever  misses  reading  this  book  will  miss  reading  what  is,  in  various 
respects,  to  the  Uest  of  our  judgment  and  experience,  the  most  remarkable  book 
of  the  davt— one,  indeed,  that  no  thoughtful,  inquiring  mind  would  miss  reading 
for  a  good  deal.  Let  the  reader  be  as  adverse  as  he  may  be  to  the  writer'H  phi- 
losophy, let  him  be  as  devoted  to  the  obstructive  as  Mr.  Buckle  is  to  the  progress 
party,  let  him  be  as  orthodox  in  church  creed  as  the  other  is  heterodox,  as  dog- 
matic as  the  author  is  skeptical— let  him,  in  short,  find  his  prejudices  shocked 
at  every  turn  of  the  argument,  and  all  his  prepossessions  whistled  down  the 
wind— still,  there  is  so  much  in  this  extraordinary  volume  to  stimulate  reflection 
and  excite  to  inquiry,  and  provoke  to  earnest  investigation,  perhaps  (to  this  or 
that  reader)  on  a  track  hitherto  untrodden,  and  across  the  virgin  soil  of  untilled 
fields,  fresh  woods  and  pastures  new,  that  we  may  fairly  defy  the  most  hostile 
ppirit,  the  most  mistrustful  and  least  sympathetic,  to  read  it  through  without  be- 
ing glad  of  having  done  so,  or  havintr  begun  it,  or  even  glanced  at  almost  any  cue 
of  its  pages,  to  pass  it  away  unread."- iVei^  Monthly  Magazine  (London). 

THE  ENGLISH  CONSTITUTION,  AND  OTHER  POLITICAL 
ESSAYS.  By  AValtkr  Bagehot.  Latest  revised  edition.  Contain- 
ing Essays  on  the  Characters  of  Lord  Brougham  and  Sir  Robert 
Peel,  Bart.,  never  before  published  in  this  country.  With  an  Amer- 
ican Preface.     12mo.     Cloth,  $2.00. 

"  A  work  that  deserves  to  be  widely  and  familiarly  known.  Its  title,  however, 
is  BO  little  suggestive  of  its  real  character,  and  is  so  certain  to  repel  and  mislead 
American  readers,  that  some  prefatory  words  may  be  useful  for  the  correction  of 
erroneous  impressions.  It  is  well  known  that  the  term '  Constitution,'  in  its 
political  sense,  has  very  different  significations  in  England  and  in  this  country. 
With  us  it  means  a  written  instrument.  The  English  have  no  such  written  docu- 
ment. By  the  national  Constitution  they  mean  their  actual  social  and  political 
order— the  whole  body  of  laws,  usages,  and  precedents,  which  have  been  in- 
herited from  former  generations,  and  by  which  the  practice  of  government  la 
regulated.  A  work  upon  the  English  Constitution,  therefore,  brings  us  naturally 
to  the  direct  consideration  of  the  structure  and  practical  working  of  English 
political  institutions  and  social  life.  Mr.  Bagehot  is  not  so  much  a  partisan  or  an 
advocate  as  a  cool  philosophical  inquirer,  with  larse  knowledge,  clear  insight, 
independent  opinions,  and  great  freedom  from  the  bias  of  what  he  terms  'that 
territorial  sectarianism  called  patriotism.'  Taking  up  in  succession  the  Cabinet, 
the  Monarchy,  the  House  of  Lords,  the  House  of  Commons,  he  considers  them 
in  what  may  he  called  their  dynamical  inter-actions,  and  in  relation  to  the 
habits,  traditions,  culture,  and  character  of  the  English  people.  We  doubt  if 
there  is  any  other  volume  so  useful  for  our  countrymen  to  peruse  before  visiting 
England."— i^rom  the  American  Preface. 

HISTORY  OF  EUROPEAN  MORALS  FROM  AUGUS- 
TUS TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  By  William  E.  H.  Lecky. 
2  vols.     12mo.     Cloth,  $3.00;  half  calf,  extra,  $7.00. 

"  So  vast  is  the  field  Mr.  Lecky  introduces  us  to,  so  varied  and  extensive  the 
information  he  has  collected  in  it,  fetching  it  from  far  beyond  the  limits  of  hia 
professed  subject,  that  it  is  impossible  in  any  moderate  space  to  do  more  than 
indicate  the  line  he  follows.  .  .  .  The  work  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  our 
higher  English  literature,  as  well  as  an  admirable  guide  for  those  who  may  care 
to  go  in  person  to  the  distant  fountains  from  which  Mr.  Lecky  has  drawn  for 
them  80  freely."— iondon  Times. 


New  York:  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  1,  3,  &  6  Bond  Street. 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO/S  PUBLIOATIONS. 

A  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY.  By  William  E.  H.  Lecky,  author  of  "History  of 
the  Rise  and  Influence  of  the  Spirit  of  Rationalism  in  Europe,"  etc. 
Vols.  1, 11,  III,  and  IV.  Large  12mo.  Cloth,  $2.25  each ;  half  calf, 
$4.50  each. 

"  On  every  ground  which  should  render  a  history  of  eighteenth-century  Eng- 
land precious  to  thinking  men,  Mr.  Lecky'e  work  may  be  commended.  The 
materials  accumulated  in  these  volumes  attest  an  industry  more  strenuous  and 
comprehensive  than  that  exhibited  by  Froude  or  by  Macaulay.  But  it  is  hia 
supreme  merit  that  he  leaves  on  the  reader's  mind  a  conviction  that  he  not  only 
possesses  the  acuteness  which  can  discern  the  truth,  but  the  unflinching  purpose 
of  truth-telling."— iN'ew  York  Sun. 

"Lecky  has  not  chosen  to  deal  with  events  in  chronological  order,  nor  does 
he  present  the  details  of  personal,  party,  or  military  afllairs.  The  work  is  rather 
an  attempt  *to  disengatre  from  the  great  mass  of  facts  those  which  relate  to  the 
permanent  forces  of  the  nation,  or  which  indicate  some  of  the  more  enduring 
features  of  national  life.'  The  author's  manner  has  led  him  to  treat  of  the  power 
of  monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  democracy;  of  the  history  of  political  ideas  ;  of 
manners  and  of  beliefs,  as  well  as  of  the  increasing  power  of  Parliament  and  of 
the  press."— Z)r.  C.  K.  Adams's  Manual  of  Historical  Literature. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  RISE  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  THE 
SPIRIT  OF  RATIONALISM  IN  EUROPE.  By  Will- 
iam E.  H.  Lecky.  2  vols.  Small  8vo.  Cloth,  $4.00 ;  half  calf, 
extra,  $8.00. 

*'The  author  defines  his  purpose  as  an  attempt  to  trace  that  spirit  which 
Meads  men  on  all  occasioos  to  subordinate  dogmatic  theology  to  the  dictates  of 
reason  and  of  conscience,  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  to  restrict  its  influ- 
ence upon  life'— which  predisposes  men,  in  history,  to  attribute  all  kinds  of 
phenomena  to  natural  rather  than  miraculous  causes  ;  in  theology,  to  esteem 
succeeding  systems  the  expressions  of  the  wants  and  aspirations  of  that  religious 
sentiment  which  is  planted  in  all  men;  and,  in  ethics,  to  regard  as  duties  only 
those  which  conscience  reveals  to  be  such."- Z'r.  C.  K.  Adams's  Manual  of 
Historical  Literature. 

THE  LEADERS  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION  IN  IRELAND: 
SWIFT,  FLOOD,  GRATTAN,  O'CONNELL.  By  Will- 
iam E.  H.  Lecky.     12mo.     Cloth,  $1.75. 

"A  writer  of  Lecky's  mind,  with  his  rich  imagination,  his  fine  ability  to  ap- 
preciate imagination  in  others,  and  his  disposition  to  be  himself  an  orator  upon 
the  written  page,  could  hardly  have  found  a  period  in  British  history  more  har- 
monious with  his  literary  style  than  that  which  witnessed  the  rise,  the  ripening, 
and  the  fall  of  the  four  men  whose  impress  upon  the  development  of  the 
national  spirit  of  Ireland  was  not  limited  by  the  local  questions  whose  discussion 
constituted  their  fame."— iS'g?^;  York  Evening  Post. 

HISTORY  OF  HENRY  THE  FIFTH :  KING  OF  ENGLAND, 
LORD  OF  IRELAND,  AND  HEIR  OF  FRANCE.  By  Georgb  M. 
Towle.     Svo.     Cloth,  $2.50. 


New  York :  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  1,  3,  &  5  Bond  Street. 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO/S  PUBLICATIONS. 

RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  CONSTITU- 
TION.    Bj  Sir  Edward  S.  Creasy.     12mo.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

A  very  intereating  subject,  treated  with  great  learning  and  skill.  It  should 
take  its  place  in  all  libraries  as  a  most  useful  commentary  on  Enslish  history. 
As  an  account  of  the  gradual  development  of  free  institutions  in  England,  it  con- 
nects itself  with  our  own  history,  especially  with  the  progress  of  opiniou  in  the 
early  part  of  our  Revolutionary  struggle. 

"As  a  manual  for  the  use  of  the  historical  etudent  while  he  is  laying  the 
foundation  for  a  knowledge  of  the  English  Constitution,  this  little  book  is  with- 
out a  superior.  It  conabines  accuracy  with  vivacity,  and  should  be  constantly 
used  by  the  student  in  the  early  period  of  his  studies."— Z/T.  C.  K.  Adatnst 
Manual  of  Historical  Literature. 

A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  By  Charles  Dickens. 
New  Household  Edition.  With  Illustrations.  Square  8vo.  Paper, 
75  cents;  cloth,  $1.25. 

THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION:  HOW  IT  CAME  ABOUT, 
AND  WHY  WE  SHOULD  UPHOLD  it.  By  Cunningham  Geikie, 
D.D.,  author  of  "The  Life  and  Words  of  Christ."  12mo.  Cloth, 
$2.00. 

"Dr.  Geikie's  work  sustains  the  reputation  which  his  'Life  and  Words'  had 
given  him  as  a  clear  historical  writer.  It  is  impossible  to  comprehend  the  con- 
flicts for  spiritual  liberty  of  the  present  without  tracing  them  back  to  their 
origin  in  the  past ;  and  therms  no  single  volume  which  will  better  enable  us  to 
do  this  than  Dr.  Geikie's  'History  of  the  English  Keformation.' " — Xew  York 
Christian  Union. 

"His  grouping  of  facts  is  often  masterly,  his  style  is  bold  and  incisive,  and 
his  sketches  of  eventful  periods  or  eminent  personages  are  vivid  and  graphic." 
— Harper's  New  Monthly  Magazine. 

ANECDOTAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  PARLIA- 
MENT. From  the  Earliest  Periods  to  the  Present  Time,  with 
Notices  of  Eminent  Parliamentary  Men  and  Examples  of  their  Ora- 
tory.    Compiled  by  G.  H.  Jennings.     Crown  8vo.     Cloth,  $2.50. 

"  As  pleasant  a  companion  for  the  leieure  hours  of  a  studious  and  thoughtful 
man  as  anything  in  book-shape  since  Selden."— iyOntZon  Telegraph. 

"It  would  be  sheer  affectation  to  deny  the  fascination  exercised  by  th9 
.'Anecdotal  History  of  Parliament.'  ''"'—Saturday  Review. 

YOUNG  IRELAND  :   A  FRAGMENT  OF  IRISH  HISTORY,  1840 

TO  1850.     By  the  Hon.  Sir  Charles  Gavan  Dcffy,  K.  C.  M.  G.     8vo. 

Cloth,  $3.00;  cheap  edition,  $1.50. 

"  Ably  written,  by  one  who  has  since  had  largft  and  successful  erperiencc  iu 
the  British  colonies  "in  the  South  Pacific." — Dr.  C.  K.  Adams's  Manual  Q^  Hi& 
torical  Literature. 


New  York:  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  1,  3,  &  5  Bond  Street 


